A perfect love. Kellie Pickler and husband Kyle Jacobs were together for over a decade before his tragic death — and shared a life full of laughter and music.
While Pickler has been a blonde bombshell of country music since her time on American Idol, Jacobs made his own mark in the entertainment industry behind the scenes. As an award-winning songwriter, he and the North Carolina native often worked together on bringing her songs to life.
“[Our relationship] is really special in the fact that we get to write together and Kyle produces me and whatnot,” Pickler said during a 2017 episode of BUILD while discussing her song “My Angel,” which was created to honor her late grandmother. “It was beautiful to see the song come to life.”
Jacobs, for his part, said the track “turned out to be really special” thanks to the pair getting to collaborate with their respective mutual talents.
The couple first met in the early 2000s through a mutual friend — and the Minnesota native didn’t hesitate to boast about his talents when trying to win the Mistletoe Secret star over.
During an interview with Us Weekly in December 2015, the duo recalled Jacobs’ first pickup line: “Hi, I’m Kyle. I’m a songwriter.”
At the time, Pickler joked about her reaction, telling Us, “I was like, ‘Great,’” with an eyeroll. “No, we started writing the next day,” she added.
The lovebirds got engaged in July 2010. After initially planning a large Nashville wedding, however, they decided last minute to jet off to Antigua for a low-key ceremony on New Year’s Day in 2011.
“It was perfect, because we didn’t plan anything,” Pickler told Us the following month. “I packed the wedding dress and he packed an outfit. We flew there and we didn’t know what kind of cake we were going to get. We didn’t know what food we were going to have … it was the most incredible day of my life.”
In November 2015, they starred together in a self-described I Love Lucy reality series on CMT aptly titled I Love Kelly Pickler. Jacobs told Us at the time that the show highlighted the best aspects of their happy union.
“We love our marriage is number one, it always will be No. 1. But one of our favorite things that we can do is laugh. And we want to show that to people,” he gushed.
I Love Kellie Pickler ran for three seasons before ending in October 2017, but the couple continued to document their love for one another until Jacobs’ tragic death in February 2023.
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