Blake Shelton/Miranda Lambert Divorce Devastates Country Music Fanbase

by Aprille Hanson
On July 20, my husband and I celebrated our one-month anniversary of being married. Now, sadly, we must end things because country’s power couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert have announced they are getting a divorce after four years of marriage. This means that all hope is lost.

This is sarcasm.

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have to explain that my husband and I will NOT be breaking up because of the Shelton/Lambert split, but these are crazy times if you look at social media.

Humanity is lost. There’s no hope for love. If Blake and Miranda can’t make it, there’s not hope for the rest of us. One person actually tweeted: “@blakeshelton @mirandalambert I can’t believe you would do this to me I’m deeply hurt” … followed by eight sad faces.

I kid you not, this has been the response. I would hope that most would be saying this as a joke, but the more you scroll through the twitter hashtags, the more it seems that this is honestly how people feel.

Pull it together humans. We have wars, natural disasters, poverty, hunger, but it’s this divorce that sends the world into despair?

It’s fine to be upset. I sure was. I, along with all their other fans, watched their love blossom just like a country love song. From the moment they sang together on “You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma” on CMT in 2005 to their marriage five years later to their string of musical collaborations (most notably “Over You,” sung by Lambert and co-written by them as an ode Shelton’s brother killed in a car accident) to the string of endless country music awards that followed that success. They were this generations Tim and Faith, George and Tammy, Johnny and June.

They were the country “It” couple and whenever they recorded a love song like Lambert’s, “Oklahoma Sky” or Shelton’s “Honey Bee” you couldn’t help but imagine they were singing about each other, even if they didn’t write it. We lived out their love story vicariously through their music.

This is exactly why their break-up is so devastating for fans. We watched these low-on-the-totem-pole country stars build not only their love but ultimately their careers. It was a joy to root for them.

But they have always been frank that their courtship has been on shaky ground. After all, they fell in love on that stage during that duet when Shelton was still married. Then, both have admitted that five years of dating while touring and focusing on their music was filled with hurdles. Then of course after getting married, managing even bigger careers, plus Shelton’s TV fame as a judge (THE judge really) on NBC’s singing competition “The Voice,” just added more obstacles.

It’s also hard to comprehend because of Lambert’s past bold statements about divorce. In an April 2013 article in Country Weekly, the country queen said, “Like I always say, my mom said to my dad, ‘Divorce is not an option.’ So, we really love each other and have a real marriage outside of all of this.”

Then there are the lyrics to her hit single “Automatic” off of her most recent album Platinum. Co-written by Lambert, it includes the line, “Staying married was the only way to work your problems out.” Often during performances, she’d hold up her left hand, flashing her ring to drive the point home.

News outlets have reported that the papers have been filed for a while, but Monday it became official. I hate to cite TMZ, but they have said Shelton was the one to file in Oklahoma. That’s one of those facts I can’t see them pulling out of thin air. 

The fans feel such a deep connection to the stars through their music and Twitter that it was such a gut-punch when we read the statement released by their representatives (not them personally and no mention on their Twitter feeds) to the Associated Press: “This is not the future we envisioned,” the statement read, “And it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter.”

They are real people, but with extremely public lives. Their divorce may be all worked out on paper between them, but it will be messy with speculation and rumors swirling and there’s nothing they can do to stop it. I could come up with a bunch of different theories on what caused the split, but what’s the point? Truths will come out piece by piece but no one really knows except for the couple what causes that final straw to break the camel’s back.

It’s a sad day for fans, but a much sadder day for this couple that couldn’t make it work. Let’s not forget we do not truly know either one of these people and to act like we’re personally offended or that the tragedy is ours, is cruel to them. The more appropriate use of our time would be to pray for them as they wade through this murky water.

They will continue to make great music and we’ll continue to listen … and remember when God made Oklahoma.

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