Maren Morris files for divorce from Ryan Hurd after breaking away from country music
About a month after Maren Morris announced she’s leaving country music, she is now leaving her husband.
Morris filed for divorce from Ryan Hurd earlier this month in Davidson County, Tenn., after five years of marriage to her fellow singer-songwriter, citing the usual “irreconcilable differences” in court documents obtained by The Times.
The dissolution papers were filed on Oct. 2 but did not come to light until Tuesday in a People report. Court documents showed that Morris and Hurd had completed a parenting seminar, required by law in Tennessee, that is intended to educate parents on the emotional toll a divorce can have on children.
The two have one child together, 3-year-old Hayes Andrew Hurd.
Hurd’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment. Neither party has publicly addressed the reason for their split.
Morris’ feud with Jason Aldean and his wife over trans rights helped ignite Nashville’s current culture wars. Now, she’s kicking off a new chapter in her career.
Morris and Hurd both moved to Nashville as country music songwriters. They met in 2013 during a songwriting session for Tim McGraw’s tune “Last Turn Home,” People reported. They started dating in 2015 and tied the knot in the Music City in March 2018.
They have released music together throughout their careers, including the duet “Chasing After You,” which they performed at the 2021 Academy of Country Music Awards. The single went platinum and was nominated for a Grammy for country duo/group performance.
Morris had been open about the depression she experienced after giving birth to Hayes at the start of the pandemic, saying it took a toll on her mental health and her ability to make music.
Morris, who sparred with Jason and Brittany Aldean over their transphobic social media posts, says that country music is fractured, and that’s not a bad thing.
“I think a lot of identity crises happened there,” she said in December while a guest on “Today.” “Not just being a new parent and a new mother and dealing with postpartum depression for the first time, and reeling from that, and trying to like find the forest through the trees. But also just knowing my worth without someone clapping for me.”
Changes continued for Morris, including her decision last month to leave country music. Shortly after the release of two fiery records that reckon with problems within the country music industry, “The Tree,” and “Get the Hell Out of Here,” Morris made the announcement during an interview with The Times’ pop music critic Mikael Wood. She said of the industry, “I thought I’d like to burn it to the ground and start over. But it’s burning itself down without my help.”
She went on to cite “misogynistic and racist and homophobic and transphobic” ideas being expressed around and within country music, which she said hit a peak during Donald Trump’s presidency.
As much of Nashville’s music community condemned the track, prominent Republican presidential candidates rushed in to support it.
Last year, she famously sparred with Jason Aldean and his wife, Brittany Kerr, after Kerr posted a video critical of gender-affirming care for children, calling the medical procedures “genital mutilation.” Morris called the post transphobic.
She told The Times that Aldean’s recent controversial hit, “Try That in a Small Town,” was an example of country music “being used as this really toxic weapon in culture wars” to “own the libs.” She has since received backlash for her criticism from conservative pundits.
Amid Morris’ announcement to leave country music, Hurd posted a lengthy statement on Instagram in support of his then-wife, writing, “She deserves to be celebrated, not just tolerated.”
“I’m sick of every talking head having some kind of stupid opinion about what she says,” he continued. “It’s the same every time, why are you surprised when she calls out something racist or homophobic, I’m sick of people getting rewarded for it. ... She deserves a little sunshine for the burden she has carried for every artist and fan that feels the same way.”
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