Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert shocked country music fans in July 2015 when they announced the end of their four-year marriage.
“This is not the future we envisioned, and it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends and colleagues,” Shelton and Lambert told Us in a joint statement. “Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter.”
Days later, Lambert addressed the breakup during a Nashville show. “Well, I’ve been living off of caffeine and sad songs lately,” she told the crowd. “So, we’re gonna drink some caffeine and sing sad songs.”
In the years since, both artists have opened up — in interviews, on stage and through their music — about heartbreak, healing and what came next. (Shelton and Lambert are now married to Gwen Stefani and Brendan McLaughlin, respectively.)
Miranda Lambert has been through several public highs and lows since rising to fame on the competition series Nashville Star in 2003. Us Weekly confirmed in July 2015 that Lambert and fellow country star Blake Shelton had split after four years of marriage. “This is not the future we envisioned,” a rep for the couple […]
Keep scrolling to read their candid comments about their divorce:
The Split Happened ‘So Fast’
Appearing on the Bobby Bones Show in September 2015, Shelton explained how quickly the divorce was finalized.
“In Oklahoma, it happens so fast,” he said. “Like, Miranda and I didn’t have any kids, and we had a prenuptial agreement, whatever we had. Once we filed for divorce, it was over in, like, I think it was like a nine or 10-day waiting period until it’s over.”
He added that the two agreed to stay civil, noting, “Our whole thing was, we are going to be cool about this, it is what it is. We’re buddies.”
Blake Shelton Went on a ‘Divorce Diet’
Fans quickly noticed Shelton’s weight loss after the breakup, and he had a simple explanation.
“Well, you know, you should try the divorce diet,” he quipped to host Blair Garner on America’s Morning Show in September 2015. “The whole stress of getting through all of that is just…It was just weird. I’m not eating as many fried pickles and stuff. I’m doing great.”
Blake Shelton Is ‘In a Good Place’ 1 Month Later
Weeks later, Shelton told the CMT Hot 20 Countdown show he was finding his footing. “I’m good, I’m good,” he said. “I’m in a good place. I wasn’t, but I am now. It’s amazing how quickly life can turn around for you.”
On Late Night With Seth Meyers later that month, Shelton predicted some uncomfortable moments at country music’s biggest night. “This year’s gonna be awkward at the CMAs,” he joked. “[Host] Brad Paisley is not doing his job if he doesn’t look down there and go ‘Ha ha!’ You have to address the elephant in the room.”
Miranda Lambert Says They Gave Their Marriage the ‘Best College Try’
Lambert told Cosmopolitan in November 2015 she had no regrets about the marriage.
“Marriage is a tough business, and we gave it our best college try,” she said. “I had a great relationship with an amazing man. I know what good is. I have a great launching pad for the future. I will never take that for granted.”
She also said there were no teams to pick, adding, “We don’t need all the opinions. We just need y’all to be supportive, and nobody pick a side — because there ain’t a side.”
Miranda Lambert Won’t Take Pain ‘for Granted’
Speaking to Billboard in July 2017 about her song “The Weight of These Wings,” Lambert said the split changed her.
“I won’t look at things ever again in the same light, because different things in your life bring you to a deeper level with yourself,” Lambert acknowledged. “I won’t take pain for granted anymore.”
Blake Shelton Calls Gwen Stefani a ‘Miracle’ After Divorce
Shelton credited his now-wife Stefani with pulling him out of a dark place.
“When I was going through my divorce and just, you know, hit rock bottom just like anybody does when they go through something that devastating,” he said on Sunday Today With Willie Geist in June 2018. “It’s a miracle that I met somebody that was going through the same exact thing that I was at the same exact moment in time.”
Miranda Lambert ‘Wasn’t Prepared’ for the Viral Breakup Reaction
Nearly seven years later, Lambert told CBS News the public scrutiny caught her off guard.
“I wasn’t prepared for that,” she said in 2022. “Well, I don’t think anyone is. It’s not nice sometimes, but I think you’ve gotta take it with a grain of salt. I’m a singer-songwriter so, luckily, I can tell my whole truth. I will not lie in my music.”
Miranda Lambert Dove ‘Headfirst’ Into Songwriting After the Split
Speaking on the “And the Writer Is…” podcast in October 2026, Lambert reflected on how their divorce fueled a creative outpouring.
“I got divorced and that sucks for anyone, especially in the public eye, especially on tour, especially in the middle of a very public career, two of us, you know what I mean?” she said. “It just was a really not fun time. I, in the meantime, had moved back to Nashville full-time, and so I dove headfirst into songwriting.”
Lambert channeled the heartbreak into a prolific writing period.
“When I moved back [to Nashville] in 2015, I gathered up all of my friends and relationships from, you know, all of the previous years and just used it, used the misery,” she said. “I used the staying out too late at honky-tonks. I used what I was living and my friends went on that journey with me, friends being songwriters, and I think I wrote 75 songs in, like, a year. I mean, in, like, the first four months I moved back.”
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.