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Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires are splitting up after nearly 11 years of marriage.
The two artists, who share 8-year-old daughter Mercy together, married in February 2013. Isbell, 45, reportedly filed for divorce from Shires, 41, in mid-December, PEOPLE, Rolling Stone, USA Today and other news outlets reported on Thursday (February 8). Reports also note that the pair has been involved in one another’s musical endeavors, including Shires singing and playing fiddle with Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and Isbell playing guitar for The Highwomen, the quartet that also includes Shires, Natalie Hemby, Brandi Carlile and Maren Morris. Morris also recently parted ways with singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd after five years of marriage. They recently finalized their divorce. Morris previously said in an interview (though it isn't clear whether she was referring, in part, to Isbell and Shires), “this year has — for a lot of people, not just me — a lot of people that are close to me have gone through it. I've known so many people that have gone through breakups or divorces.”
Neither Isbell nor Shires has publicly commented on their divorce as of publication time on Thursday morning; however, they have both previously opened up about struggles in their marriage and feeling “disconnected” from one another. Shires told the Nashville Scene in July 2022 when speaking about her song “Fault Lines,” “all of us have had turmoil within our respective marriages, and it was definitely coming from a place of vulnerability.” Isbell previously told the New York Times that issues in the marriage felt, “more like, ‘We don’t know each other right now. We’re not able to speak the same language.’”