Independent Woman Kacey Musgraves Thinks She Lives Best by Herself
"Part of me questions marriage as a whole, in general."
If anyone truly understands the meaning of the phrase “people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime,” it’s country singer and songwriter Kacey Musgraves. In her February 11th cover story for Rolling Stone, the “Rainbow” singer is reflecting on her divorce, the demands and expectations of growing up as a woman in the South, and “question[ing] marriage as a whole.”
The 32-year-old singer explained her divorce from musician Ruston Kelly had no malice or ill intent, it just “simply didn’t work out.” And that’s okay.
It’s two people who love each other so much, but for so many reasons, it just didn’t work. I mean, seasons change. Our season changed.
Musgraves and Kelly met in 2016 at Nashville country music hotspot, the Bluebird Cafe, and said “I do” just one year later in 2017. After three years of marriage and some of the highest points of Musgraves’ career, the couple announced their divorce in July 2020.
“Part of me questions marriage as a whole, in general. I mean, I was open to it when it came into my life,” she continued. ” I embraced it. I just have to tell myself I was brave to follow through on those feelings.”
While Musgraves credits Kelly as her muse in her 2018 album Golden Hour—”I really believe I wouldn’t have this album if I hadn’t met you and you didn’t open my heart like you did”—she’s learning that being alone and on her own is more than okay.
Likewise, she doesn’t need marriage to make her feel full or complete. “I think I live best by myself. I think it’s okay to realize that.”
But, it hasn’t always been rainbows and pink cowboy boots for the Follow Your Arrow singer.
A Southern woman through-and-through, Musgraves opened up about her upbringing and how that has affected her and her relationships. “I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on growing up as a woman in the South and being a performer from a young age—we were told to please, to make this person happy.”
She went on to explain that over time, this style of thinking and living can “imprint on your code” and eventually “erode boundaries.”
If anything, Musgraves is more than optimistic about her future, whether or not she’s single, in a relationship, married, or what have you. “I’m trying to examine things that may not be useful anymore and maybe unlearn some things.”
We can’t wait to see what’s in store for Spacey Kacey next!
