Zac Brown, wife Shelly divorcing after 12 years of marriage: 'We have led a whirlwind life'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Singer Zac Brown, right, and Shelly Brown attends the 2013 MusiCares Person Of The Year Honoring Bruce Springsteen at Los Angeles Convention Center on February 8, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Country singer Zac Brown and his wife of 12 years, Shelly Brown, announced they are divorcing.
The singer, 40, and his jewelry designer wife told People on Friday that they are ending their marriage.
"We feel blessed to be on such an incredible journey in life and sometimes the journey begins to lead in different directions. It is with deep love and respect that we announce we are separating as a couple," the former couple told People in a joint statement.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We have led a whirlwind life together growing into a beautiful family with five amazing children and while life will be rearranging a bit, our love and commitment to our family will always be there," the statement continued. "This was a difficult decision, but we’ve done plenty of tough things together and this is our next venture — love, mutual respect, and care for each other are what we are moving forward with."
The parents of five asked fans to respect their privacy.
"Family comes in all different forms," they said. "We would like to ask that rather than commenting or spending any energy towards this, that you take this moment to send love to your family, in honor of ours."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Recording artist Zac Brown, right and his wife Shelly Brown pose backstage during "Sinatra 100: An All-Star GRAMMY Concert" celebrating the late Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday at the Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas on December 2, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The duo married in 2006 and share daughters Joni, 7, Georgia, 8, Lucy, 10, Justice, 11, and son, Alexander, 4.
Shelly discussed her romance with the lead singer of the Zac Brown Band in a 2017 interview with the Grand Ole Opry's series "Better Half."
"A friend of his introduced us....I was really young – I had just finished college," she said at the time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2015, the "Chicken Fried" singer said he knew he wanted to marry Shelly when they kissed for the first time.
"We ended up New Year’s Eve playing a show," Brown told the Big Machine Label Group. “My date had stood me up and I remember walking back to my friends with like two minutes before midnight and thinking, ‘I’m not gonna have anybody to kiss on New Year’s.’ And there she was, standing right there and I remember kissing her and then that was game over.”