Country Divide: Shocking Splits among Country Music’s Finest

LeAnn Rimes announcement wasn’t really the shocker it was imagined to be. Since the country singer was first rumored to be having an affair with hunky Eddie Cibrian, her co-star in the Lifetime movie “Northern Lights,” everybody has simply been waiting for the two, especially sweet-faced Rimes, to admit the affair. Rimes married husband of seven years Dean Sheremet when she was only 19 years old, and he 21. Did marrying too young contribute to their separation?

The country music scene is filled with many successful marriages and relationships that seem to withstand the pressures of celebrity. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are one such example, as are Clint Black and Lisa Hartmann. For a while there, we thought Shania Twain and Mutt Lange were as solid as a rock. However, since they announced their separation last year, after 14 years of marriage, who really knows what goes behind closed doors?

It does not enter people’s mind as often as it did before, but Amy Grant caused such an uproar in 2000 when she married Vince Gill, just a year after her divorce from singer-songwriter Gary Chapman, her husband of 16 years. Grant, a multiple Grammy winner, is a well-loved gospel singer and crossover artist. Her revelation that she planned to wed Gill, a longtime collaborator, shocked the Christian community, as well as many of her other followers. Nonetheless, Grant and Gill married and now have a daughter named Corrina.

Gill himself experienced a failed marriage before finding love with Grant. He married Sweethearts of the Rodeo member Janis Gill in 1980 and divorced 13 years later in 1993.

Longevity is never a perfect indicator of a marriage’s success. In 1998, country musician Anne Murray separated from her husband Bill Langstroth after 23 years of marriage. Although they remained “the best of friends,” many were understandably shocked at the announcement.

Even stars who are not yet well-established stars are finding that maintaining a relationship under the spotlight is very demanding. American Idol finalist Bucky Covington, who has enjoyed moderate success in the country scene since his elimination from the show, separated in 2007 from his wife Crystal. “This is a difficult time for both of us, and I would ask that everyone respect our privacy,” Covington said in a statement issued by Lyric Street Records. With no children from the marriage, one wonders if it was the fame that caused a rift in the seven-year marriage.

Of course, nobody starts out in any relationship knowing what will happen. Everybody does hope that it will be forever. Dixie Chick’s Emily Erwin and singer-songwriter Charlie Robison sure wanted it badly. However, even with three children, Robison filed for divorce in January 2008 citing that their “marriage had become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities.”

For every successful couple, there are many others whose relationships crumble. Should we expect more from our country artists? They who sing about never-ending love, family values, sacrifices, and hurts caused by cheating? Though we’ll never know, don’t be shocked when that couple you are so happy for decide that separation is the truest answer to their problems.