Maren Morris shocked fans two months ago when it was revealed she had filed for divorce from Ryan Hurd, her husband of five years. Although the Grammy winner had alluded to the split on social media, she just broke her silence on the situation for the first time.
“I think this year has — for a lot of people, not just me — a lot of people that are close to me have gone through it. I’ve known so many people that have gone through breakups or divorces,” she shared on Wednesday’s Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM. Morris called the divorce “ongoing” and said she “would like this to sort of wrap up.”
When asked by Stern if she was dating again, the 33-year-old replied, “No.”
“I don’t have the headspace for that yet,” she explained, noting that she was “writing so much” in the wake of the breakup. “That’s kind of been my way of dating is just through song.”
Although Morris credited her ex with helping her through postpartum depression (they share 3-year-old son Hayes), she alluded to this being a difficult year while discussing her new look.
“I cut all the trauma out of my hair,” she quipped.
Take a look back at Morris and Hurd’s love story.
October 2023
The singer filed documents on Oct. 2, which is also the date of separation listed. That implies the demise of their relationship was sudden. Although the press wouldn’t learn of the breakup for two more weeks, Morris dropped hints that the marriage was over.
On Oct. 5, Morris was photographed without her wedding ring during a concert. She went ringless again while attending the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie premiere on Oct. 11.
September 2023
Hurd, 36, and Morris, 33, attended the U.S. Open in New York City on Sept. 2, which appears to be their last official appearance together.
Several weeks later, when Morris announced that she was leaving country music, Hurd posted a sweet tribute on Instagram.
“She deserves to be celebrated, not just tolerated,” he wrote on Sept. 20. “Most people would just shut up and keep collecting the paycheck, because the wave of vitriol is real and it’s hard. I’m so sick of watching my wife get the shit kicked out of her by the internet. I’m sick of every talking head having some kind of stupid opinion about what she says.”
March 2022
While promoting her third album, for which her family was a huge inspiration, Morris revealed her struggle with postpartum depression. She credited Hurd with helping her get through it and said their relationship got deeper during the pandemic.
“I do check-ins all the time [with] therapy, which I’ve done for years, and my husband was a huge help diagnosing that too,” she shared, noting that the depression eased around six months. “Sometimes it’s just someone really close to you saying, ‘Are you OK?’ It’s so simple, but it kind of snaps you out of whatever fog you’re in that you think is normal but isn’t.”
Morris declared: “I wouldn’t have made it through with my head this high without [Hurd].” As for their relationship, she said “the most time we had ever spent with each other” was during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And we had a kid, so we were getting to know each other in a deeper way,” she added. “We definitely got stronger.”
February 2021
Hurd and Morris released their first duet, “Chasing After You.”
“Maren and I met writing songs and we’ve sung on each other’s records and written together, but this is the first time we’ve gotten to do an actual duet together,” Hurd said in a press release. “It feels like the timing is really perfect and it’s a full-circle moment to get to make music together in this way.”
March 2020
Morris gave birth to her and Hurd’s child, a baby boy named Hayes.
October 2019
Morris announced that she was pregnant. “The irony is just too rich that after a year of living in the GIRL headspace, the universe would give us a baby boy to even things out,” she posted on Instagram, referencing her latest album. “See you in 2020, little one.”
March 2019
Morris alluded to trouble on her hit song “The Bones,” but the lyrics suggested the couple was working through it: “We’re in the home stretch of the high times / We took a hard left, but we’re alright / Yeah, life sure can try to put love through it, but / We built this right, so nothing’s ever gonna move it.”
In a March interview with Esquire, the singer said the pair went through tough times after their wedding in March 2018.
“It was probably the hardest part of our relationship,” she recalled. “We went on our honeymoon, and then I immediately went on this gigantic tour opening for Niall Horan. It was more international touring than I had ever done. And I was gone more than I had ever been on any other tour.”
While Hurd’s “always been the guy to come to me,” Morris said it was now her turn to “have to be the girl coming to him” because the songwriter planned to release more music under his own name.
“It was a tough summer,” she continued. “But we have grown so much closer because we had to make some hard decisions and have some tough talks about what this future looks like and how we can make this better.” She added: “I have always loved him, but I feel like I like him in ways I never knew I could before.”
Morris said she wanted “to better” herself before thinking of growing their family.
“Talking about the possibility of having kids, I would like our minds to be as doctored up before we bring another person into the world,” she noted.
March 2018
Morris and Hurd tied the knot in Nashville.
July 2017
Hurd popped the question. Morris announced their engagement on Instagram by posting a series of photos in which her diamond ring was on full display. (The post has since been deleted.)
January 2017
In an interview with People, Morris opened up about how it’s great dating another musician.
“It’s been amazing to go through this very crazy journey with someone at the same pace and lean on each other through all of those sometimes scary moments,” Morris shared as she was getting ready to embark on her first headlining tour.
However, the “Girl” singer admitted there were challenges, too.
“Our schedules are essentially opposite of one another unless we’re doing a show together or there’s an award show or something. But the upside is that you get to grow with someone,” she said. “You need someone there that gets what you’re going through. I’m lucky that he does.”
December 2015
Hurd and Morris officially started dating.
2013
The singers met writing “Last Turn Home” for Tim McGraw.
“We were both at different publishing companies, and our publishers’ job is to fill our calendars up, so they just randomly put us together on a write one day,” Morris recalled to People magazine years later. While she said “it was the start of a wonderful writing relationship,” it was also the start of something more.
“It’s one of my favorite songs that we’ve ever been a part of. It’s just crazy to look back on that moment where we were both just songwriters, solely, and that song has held so much weight over the years. The meaning behind the song actually means more now to me and Ryan, in a weird way — years later, it sort of hit us what the song meant,” she added.
It didn’t turn romantic right away, though.
“We had been friends for only a couple of years, but there was always this writing chemistry in the room, and eventually, the timing of it was undeniable,” she shared. “We had such a foundation built off writing so many songs over the years that we were like, ‘Why are we avoiding this?'”
Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Oct. 18, 2023, and has been updated with new information.
