On Monday night, fans were shocked to hear that Jelly Roll had filed for divorce from Bunny Xo after nearly a decade of marriage. The couple met in 2015 and secretly married in Las Vegas the following year. The couple renewed their vows in 2023 and have been public about their love for each other, which has led to even more shock at their sudden split.
On May 18, the country star filed for divorce in Williamson County, Tennessee, according to court documents obtained by TMZ. The news came as a shock to many fans, as he recently credited Bunny for helping him turn his life around during his 2026 Grammy Awards speech in February.
The two had shared plenty of PDA throughout the evening and posed together on the red carpet. While accepting the award for Best Contemporary Country Album, he became emotional as he thanked his wife.
“I want to thank my beautiful wife,” he said at the time, as previously reported by PEOPLE magazine. “I would have never changed my life without you. I would have ended up dead or in jail. I would have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus. I thank you for that.”
The Couple Met At His Concert More Than 10 Years Ago
Their relationship began after they met at one of Jelly Roll’s concerts at Las Vegas’ Country Saloon in 2015. After dating for about a year, he proposed to her on stage in Las Vegas in 2016. Later that night, they secretly tied the knot in a courthouse ceremony without telling friends or family.
In 2023, Jelly Roll admitted that they made the decision to wed “while on a bender” in Vegas in the middle of the night, but still maintained that it was the right decision.
“She’s my best friend, man. She truly is my favorite person to talk to. She’s my first and last line of defense,” he told PEOPLE in 2023. “She’s my everything. There’s anchors in life that kind of keep us straight, and Bunnie’s definitely mine.”
They Were Never 100% Sure Of Their Wedding Date
He went on to tell the publication that the decision to renew their vows in 2023 was due to the fact that they could never remember the actual date of their wedding.
“There was always a discrepancy with our anniversary, because she thought it was on one day. I thought it was on another day. Neither one of us knew,” he admitted.
“I was like, ‘Everybody else talks about the seven-year itch. Why don’t we call it the seven-year stretch?’ We’ll just go in there and double down,” he continued.
“It is officially — I think — September 1st. And September 1st felt right, because we thought it was between the 30th and 31st, so I said, ‘Well, now we can just both be wrong and just set it on the first.’ Even money that way,” he added.
Jelly Roll Has Two Children From A Prior Relationship
Jelly Roll also talked about how it has been “really cool” co-parenting his daughter, Bailee, and his son, Noah, who were both from prior relationships.
“Bunny didn’t have children, [but] she has such a maternal instinct. I call her mama bear, because that’s just who she is to all of us,” he said. “To watch her come in, and to watch her and Bailee’s relationship develop, has been the highlight of my life.”
In May 2023, he took to Instagram to share a sweet Mother’s Day message for Bunny.
“It takes a special kind of woman to raise a child that isn’t hers,” he wrote at the time. “When Bunnie and I was first starting to talk, I knew I was about to get full custody of Bailee and also had another woman pregnant. Most women would’ve ran for the hill, but not Bunnie. She told me no matter what happened between us she wanted to help me get custody Bailee.”
“7 years later Bailee calls Bunnie Momma with no hesitation, and 7 years later Bunnie still blows my mind everyday with how loving and patient she is with Bailee,” he continued. “Happy Mothers Day Mama Bear. You deserve to be celebrated on this day more than anyone I’ve ever known. I love you so much!”