Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires - Newport Folk Festival 2021 - Photo by Anthony Mulcahy
People magazine is reporting that Americana royal couple Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires are ending their marriage.
Isbell filed for divorce from Shires on Dec. 15, according to People’s review of court documents. They have one daughter, Mercy, who is 8 years old.
Isbell and Shires married in 2013, and he has credited her with helping him get sober the previous year. Their journey since then has had its ups and downs, like any marriage, but with much of it played out in the public eye as both of their musical careers have soared.
In the 2023 HBO documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed, they were frank about some of the bad times, and in a 2020 interview with The New York Times, Isbell revealed that the marriage had been strained as he was making his Reunions album. Shires moved into a hotel for 10 days because she “needed space.”
Shires plays fiddle and sings backup with Isbell’s band, The 400 Unit, and Isbell has been a frequent collaborator on Shires’ projects, including playing guitar with The Highwomen, her supergroup with Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, and Maren Morris.
Neither Isbell nor Shires has commented on the news on their social media accounts.
