Photo: getty
Divorce is never easy.
By Bernadette Giacomazzo — Written on Oct 11, 2019
The Zac Brown Band is one of the most popular musical acts of the 21st century, with sing-along hits and sold-out shows to their credit. But not everything is all sunshine and roses for this popular band. Recently, it was revealed that Zac Brown — the lead singer, songwriter, and the band's namesake — filed for divorce after 12 years of marriage. Brown, who has five children with his now ex-wife, says he still struggles with the divorce to this day. So who is Zac Brown's ex-wife, Shelly?
Based in Atlanta, The Zac Brown Band consists of Coy Bowles, Clay Cook, Daniel de los Reyes, Matt Mangano, Jimmy De Martini, Chris Fryar, John Driskell Hopkins, and of course, Zac Brown. With seven studio albums and two live albums under their belt, the Zac Brown Band is one of the most prolific musical acts, in addition to being one of the most popular musical acts, today. But their sound isn't just "country-western" — they've collaborated with a variety of rock'n'roll acts, including Dave Grohl and the late, great Chris Cornell. Many of their albums are certified platinum or triple-platinum.
But now that he's divorced his long-time wife, Zac Brown is making headlines for a totally different set of reasons.
Let's look at what we know about Shelly Brown.
1. They announced their split in a joint statement.
"We feel blessed to be on such an incredible journey in life and sometimes the journey begins to lead in different directions. It is with deep love and respect that we announce we are separating as a couple. We have led a whirlwind life together growing into a beautiful family with five amazing children and while life will be rearranging a bit, our love and commitment to our family will always be there. This was a difficult decision, but we’ve done plenty of tough things together and this is our next venture — love, mutual respect, and care for each other are what we are moving forward with," read the joint statement, according to USA Today.
2. Shelly Brown and Zac Brown married in 2006, and have 5 children.
According to People, Shelly Brown married Zac Brown back in 2006. The couple have five children: son Alexander, 4, and daughters Joni, 7, Georgia, 8, Lucy, 10, and Justice, 11. They met through a mutual friend, and Zac Brown said that he knew he loved Shelly Brown when they shared their first kiss.
3. Their relationship wasn't all sunshine and roses.
Life and Style Magazine detailed the various things that Zac and Shelly Brown went through as a couple, and needless to say, it wasn't always pretty. The outlet reports that they've been through an infamous drug bust back in 2016 when they attended a party at a hotel that got busted. Zac wasn't arrested but four other people at the party were. They also started a summer camp for autistic kids, something they talked about doing on their first date.
4. To cope with the divorce, Zac Brown said that he turned to his music.
"There are some really personal songs on [this new album]. Sometimes life can be challenging in facing things that are hard, and music has always been my therapy. It's been my way to make it through a lot of things, so I'm blessed to be able to do that. You always get to hear about our lives in the music that we put out — lots of diversity on this album," he said to Music-News.com.
5. Shelly Brown and Zac Brown are asking their fans to respect their privacy.
According to Fox News, neither Shelly Brown nor Zac Brown are in the right place to talk about their divorce right now. The outlet reports that the now-former couple told their fans that they hoped they'd be able to turn their tragedy into an inspiration, and that they could focus on their own family rather than worry about the Brown family and its current split state.
6. Even though it happened a while ago, Zac Brown says he's still struggling with the divorce.
"But you know, when you live in something long enough that it's not working anymore, and that the differences that are there are greater, and that it's healthier to not live in conflict than it is to try to stay. And no matter how many mistakes, or whatever, and she absolutely was the one. And, you know, we have five amazing, beautiful children together. And that was the reason that we were together. It's not how I planned it to be. But it gave me more than I could've ever dreamed of having, you know?" he said to Taste of Country.
The outlet also reports that while he didn't get into details about their split, he strongly implied that he'd been going through some issues of his own as of late.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series. For more information about Bernadette Giacomazzo, click here.