It wasn’t a perfect relationship, but none of them are. As first reported by TMZ, Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, filed for divorce from his wife Bunnie Xo, whose real name is Alisa DeFord, back on May 18 in Williamson County Chancery Court, just outside of Nashville. They were married for nearly ten years, and while neither of the two have publicly addressed the separation, though TMZ reported that it was a “mutual decision” and a “private family matter.” Whiskey Riff obtained a copy of the divorce complaint that was filed by the “Save Me” singer, which reveals that the couple separated on May 9, a week and a half before the request for a divorce was filed. He cites “irreconcilable differences” as the grounds for the divorce, which in Tennessee is a no-fault grounds for divorce that means that the parties agree on the terms of the separation. Jelly Roll has hired Rose Palermo, a high-profile divorce attorney to the stars who has represented other celebrities like Kelsea Ballerini, Kristin Cavallari, Conway Twitty, Wynona Judd, and many, many more. For her part, Bunnie is represented by Neil Campbell of Campbell Perky Johnson, PLLC, a Nashville-based divorce firm. The couple were married back in 2016 before renewing their vows in 2023, and have been incredibly transparent about their relationship, including their struggles along the way. In an interview just a couple months ago with E! News, Bunnie explained that they were in a “beautiful place,” but things weren’t always sunshine and rainbows between them: “I want people to know, ‘Hey, it took a lot of work, guts and grit to get to where we are, Everything’s beautiful now, but it wasn’t in the beginning. Just us being together was just two souls that were merging that were broken and just formed a whole piece. And we helped each other heal, and we have continued to elevate and grow in these past 10 years. I couldn’t be happier. That dude’s my best friend.” She released her memoir in February, called Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic, where she details a ton of information about their marriage, from how they met in August of 2015, when Jelly was just starting out and living in a van, and she admits that he was not her type, but the second she met him, she felt like she’d known him her whole life. After months of texting, they eventually decided to give it chance, even though Bunnie admits Jelly was not her usual type: “J wasn’t my type—­I love tough guys, or goth, emo boys in eyeliner. I wasn’t his type either. So why the hell was my soul telling me there he is the minute we met? I couldn’t explain it. Our chemistry was insane, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.” They went through a lot, Bunnie was still a high-end call girl at the time and making a ton of money, and Jelly was not bothered by her line of work… she says he viewed her as a hard worker, and unlike everyone else she’d ever dated, he’d never made her feel bad for what she did. Eventually, she left sex work behind, though for years, Bunnie and Jelly had what she described as a “free” relationship, where it wasn’t always just the two of them. She explained in the book that she thought allowing third parties in would save the relationship from the cheating she’d always experienced in her other relationships: “I thought my openness and willingness to have third parties would save me from all the other cheating I’d experienced in my life. But if a girl wanted to come home with us, we more than likely wouldn’t turn her down.” And if Bunnie ever wanted to get with another man, Jelly had no problem with it, which she was hurt by at first, saying she felt: “Like he didn’t really love me if he wasn’t possessive and jealous. We both live by the motto that we aren’t each other’s possessions, and consider our relationship to be free, not open.” But she did have one rule, that he could never “lie” to her or let her “be the last to know something,” and ultimately, Jelly did have an affair with another woman, which Bunnie found out about after a long time of being suspicious, around 2018. He denied it for a long time, but eventually, she figured it out, and Jelly moved out and wanted to end his marriage with Bunnie. She says the pain was “so intense” that she wanted to “end it all,” and after all of it, she swore she would never speak to him again. The woman having the affair with Jelly eventually admitted everything, and Bunnie says she was most hurt by the emotional aspect of the cheating, rather than the physical: “She told me about how he got a house for them to live in and he wanted her to stay at home and take care of Bailee. And out of everything, that’s what made me sick. It wasn’t about him f****** this broad—­it was about emotionally cheating and then wanting her to play mommy to a little girl I’d fallen in love with.” Yeah, I’m not sure most people could come back from something like that… Eventually, though, she did forgive Jelly, though she admits it took a long time for her to put the emotions she had from the affair aside: “When a man puts you through something like that, you never stop loving them, you just love them differently. Your heart is more guarded. Less trusting. Cracked. I’m not going to pretend that we just went back to normal. It would take years for me to put the affair aside. It would take years to actually feel like this man loved me—­ that I wasn’t disposable.” Bunnie and Jelly have both noted in separate interviews that they’re no longer in a “free marriage” and that it’s been exclusive for a long time. Last year, Bunnie addressed those rumors directly saying that they were never in an open marriage to begin with, and that they just didn’t believe in controlling one another. However, she says that their willingness to have other people in bed with them ended a long time ago: “You guys are clipping clips from like 6 years ago… We have completely stopped all of those shenanigans because you can’t trust anybody in the world. Back in the day, that was how we looked at our relationship.” @ohheyitsbunnie Last time I’m ever addressing this, let’s move on shall we? #jellyandbunnie ♬ original sound – Bunnie From the outside looking in, it seemed like they had a pretty strong marriage by the end of it, and like I mentioned, they’ve always been very open about their struggles, so it’s no secret it hasn’t always been easy for them. Just a few months, during her book tour interview with Howard Stern, Bunnie said they were in a great place and gonna ride it out together until the end. It seems like something has changed and I’m not going to speculate on what that could be. You never really know what’s going on in people’s lives, and hopefully, the divorce can be as smooth as possible, and for the children that Bunnie has helped raise, hopefully they can remain close with her and continue to be a family in a different way now.The post Bunnie XO Previously Opened Up About “Free” Marriage & Jelly Roll’s Infidelity, But Squashed Rumor They Had An “Open Marriage” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

There’s one thing that gets under Charles Wesley Godwin’s skin more than anything else. The West Virginia native is proud to be from the Mountaineer State, and he makes that apparent at pretty much every one of his live shows. The John Denver hit “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is a usual part of his set list, and the country artist even penned his own song called “Cue Country Roads” as a tribute to that track and his home state. So as you might imagine, he gets really, really upset when people insist that Denver’s classic song is about Virginia… and not West Virginia. In a recent interview with The Brothers Hunt, Godwin got to talking about West Virginia Mountaineers sporting events. He was letting those that aren’t familiar with the tradition know that, following wins, Mountaineers players, coaches and the fans come together to sing “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” The thing that gets Godwin riled up? People insisting that the song is actually about Virginia instead of West Virginia: “Every time, man. And inevitably, there’s always that person that’s like, ‘You know, the song is about Virginia or about western Virginia.’ Those people drive me f***ing nuts. It’s the smuggest, most annoying thing ever (when they say), ‘It’s about Virginia actually.’ If you’re coming from D.C., swing through Harper’s Ferry and tell me it’s about Virginia, not West Virginia, it drives me nuts… It’s about West Virginia.” Tell us how you really feel, Charles Wesley Godwin. Outside of a live CWG show (which are electric), that’s about as animated as you’ll ever see or hear the country singer. And he’s so passionate about it because he knows, for a fact, that John Denver’s famous tune is about West Virginia: “First off, I know this for a fact. I have a song called ‘Cue Country Roads,’ which I made that for the Mountaineers. I wanted them to play it at games and stuff. That had to go through John Denver’s estate. They have a manager, and I think it’s because John died unexpectedly… they manage his music and continue to this day. ‘Cue Country Roads,’ I paid a royalty to John Denver’s estate to have that song. I met the manager, I met family members and stuff. That song is about West Virginia.” When the “All Again” singer actually sat down with the managers and family to get all of the “Cue Country Roads” stuff squared, he actually got the origin story of the song. Sorry to let down all of the people out there who think the song is about Virginia… but I’m happy to confirm that Godwin and the rest of the Mountaineers out there are right. “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is about, and was inspired by, West Virginia: “The story goes, they were writing it. They played in D.C. the night before and they’re headed west and they were going through like the eastern panhandle and gone through Harper’s Ferry and all and they were writing the song that day in the car. The Blue Ridge mountains are on the eastern side of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, but it can be an adjective as well, cause all the Appalachians look blue when you see them out in the distance. The Shenandoah River runs right through that part of the eastern panhandle.” There you have it. Charles Wesley Godwin landed his argument by once again sharing that nothing gets hid blood boiling more than people who think they know more about “Take Me Home, Country Roads” than everyone else: “It makes me so mad. Every time, inevitably, there’s someone on Twitter, some smug sports writer that’s like, ‘Actually, the song…’ They always think when they say it too that they are the only one that has had that thought. It drives me up the wall.” And hey… I mentioned earlier that Charles Wesley Godwin puts on some high-energy concerts. Do yourself a favor and go see him play sometime this year (so you can hear him play “Take Me Home, Country Roads” and “Cue Country Roads”). Charles Wesley Godwin 2026 Tour Dates Jul 2 – Calgary, AB – Cowboys Music Festival Jul 10 – Saint Paul, MN – Minnesota Country Club Festival Jul 14 – Sioux Falls, SD – The District Jul 17 – Emigrant, MT – The Old Saloon Jul 18 – Kalispell, MT – Majestic Valley Arena Jul 19 – Whitefish, MT – Under the Big Sky Festival Jul 22 – Jackson, WY – Teton County Fair Aug 4 – San Francisco, CA- Regency Aug 6 – Sacramento, CA – Channel 24 Aug 7 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern Aug 8 – San Diego, CA – SOMA Aug 13 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Aug 14 – Phoenix, AZ – Van Buren Aug 21 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground Aug 22 – Toronto, ON – History Aug 27 – Oklahoma City, OK – Criterion Aug 28 – Lubbock, TX – Cook’s Garage* Aug 29 – New Braunfels, TX – Whitewater Amphitheater* Sept 11 – Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Sept 12 – Boston, MA – Roadrunner Sept 17 – Landmark Theatre – Syracuse, NY Sept 18 – Philadelphia, PA – Fillmore Sept 23 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center# Sept 26 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle* Sept 29 – New York, NY – The Rooftop at Pier 17* Sept 30 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena# Oct 1 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater* Oct 9 – North Charleston, SC – Riverfront Revival Oct 15 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre Oct 17 – Garden City, ID – Revolution Concert House Oct 18 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom Oct 21 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory Oct 22 – Seattle, WA – SoDo Oct 24 – Vancouver, BC – Orpheum Theater Nov 5 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre Nov 6 – Charleston, WV – Charleston Coliseum Nov 7 – Cincinnati, OH – MegaCorp Pavilion Nov 12 – Chicago, IL – Salt Shed Nov 13 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Nov 14 – St. Louis, MO – Factory * co-headline with Dylan Gossett # supporting Kacey MusgravesThe post Charles Wesley Godwin Shuts Down Claim That John Denver’s “Country Roads” Isn’t About West Virginia: “It Makes Me So Mad” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The world deserves these collabs. Throughout its history, country music has been home to some of the most iconic collaborations in music. From Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton scoring a genre-defining hit with “Islands in the Stream” and Johnny Cash and June Carter teaming up for “Jackson” to Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss delivering one of the most haunting songs in history with “Whiskey Lullaby” and George Strait and Alan Jackson sticking in to the Nashville machine on “Murder on Music Row,” you don’t have to look far to find show-stopping collaborations from decade-to-decade. Recently, it seems as if star-studded collaborations have simply become the norm over the past decade. Of course, you have your all-genre #1s from the likes of Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves on “I Remember Everything” and Post Malone making his grand country debut with Morgan Wallen on “I Had Some Help.” With that being said, however, we’ve also seen some other massive collabs from the likes of Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood, Ella Langley and Miranda Lambert, Chris Stapleton and George Strait, Zach Bryan and a plethora of artists such as Noah Kahan, Sierra Ferrell, Bruce Springsteen, The Lumineers and many more. Despite there being so many collaborations lately, there are still some major artists that fans (myself included) have been begging for a team-up from for what feels like years at this point. Without further ado, here are five country collaborations that would break the internet. 1. Morgan Wallen & Luke Combs With Combs and Wallen in particular, it’s hard to truly separate the two. Despite having radically different music styles, with Combs harkening back to the turn of the century offerings of the late 1990s and early 2000s and Wallen spearheading the push of pop/trap elements through the use of his highly criticized 808 beats and hip-hop-inspired production, the two are nearly inseparable when it comes to discussing country music today. Of course, this is also due to the fact that they not only debuted within one year of each other but also due to the fact that they’re two of the most successful country artists in the history of the genre. All this is to say, a collaboration between these two juggernauts has been something many fans have dreamed of over the past five or so years as the pair continue to smash record after record of their own. And while it may not be on the way yet, Combs has yet to rule it out. The “Beautiful Crazy” singer would admit recently that they’ve continued talking about it over the years but simply haven’t found the right song. Additionally, he’d add that there’s (rightfully) a lot of pressure involved in a collaboration as long-awaited as one with Wallen. “We talked about it a couple of years ago, and we just haven’t found the song. I feel like there would be a lot of pressure on the song to be like perfect. And if it wasn’t right, it could just go terribly. People will be like, ‘We waited all this time, and it’s such a let down.” As two of the biggest stars in the genre’s history, it’s pretty safe to say that whenever they get around to releasing a song together, it’s bound to break records. The only question that remains, at this point, is when it will happen. 2. Chris Stapleton & Sturgill Simpson Two of Kentucky’s finest and two saviors of country music, it’s hard to really understate the importance of both Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson. For Stapleton, his rise in popularity after his iconic 2015 CMA performance of “Tennessee Whiskey” all but saved the genre and signaled the death of bro-country. For Simpson, he’s arguably the forefather of the independent/alternative country renaissance, along with the likes of Tyler Childers, Cody Jinks and more, and has probably influenced your favorite artist in some capacity or another in the past decade. Given the fact that the two are Kentucky natives, have incredibly similar, genre-blending sounds and have established themselves as two living legends in the genre, the pairing of the two feels like a no-brainer that would undoubtedly send every alternative country fan into a frenzy. The closest we’ve come to an official collaboration between the two so far came back in 2017 when Sturgill made a surprise appearance and absolutely shredded during a performance of “Midnight Train to Memphis” on Saturday Night Live. 3. Zach Top & The Red Clay Strays In many ways, The Red Clay Strays and Zach Top have shared a similar trajectory over the past few years. Though the two sit on opposite sides of the genre, with the Strays bringing a wholly unique blend of country, southern rock and gospel elements from album to album and Top spearheading the rise of traditional country back to the mainstream, it hasn’t stopped the pair from garnering a lot of crossover fans and, more importantly, a whole lot of success both commercially and critically. What makes the two so special, outside of the incredible work in the studio, is the number of times they’ve collaborated in the past year. Last April at Georgia Rodeo, the pair would surprise the crowd with a performance of Waylon Jennings’ 1990 single, “Where The Corn Don’t Grow,” which was later covered and popularized by Travis Tritt in 1996. Just two weeks ago, at Red Clay’s album release party for Grateful at the Pinnacle in Nashville, Top would make a surprise appearance and they’d play the track once again. In case you were getting tired of the two powerhouses performing “Where the Corn Don’t Grow” recently (though I’m not sure why you would), the pair reunited yet again over the weekend with a brand new cover, this time at Top’s headlining show at the Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama. With multiple collaborations over the past year and obviously great rapport between the two, it feels like it would be a disservice to not hear a cover or original from the pair receive studio treatment some time soon. 4. Eric Church & Miranda Lambert Though the pair have found themselves briefly at odds in the past, mainly due to Church criticizing singing competition shows, it’s hard to ignore the similarities between Eric Church and Miranda Lambert. With both debuting just a year apart, being two of the most respected songwriters in the mainstream and having a long history of being trailblazing bad***es over the past two decades, their overall sound and style would simply be a match made in heaven. The two actually wrote Jon Pardi and Lauren Alaina’s “Don’t Blame It On Whiskey” together, along Luke Laird and Michael P. Heeney, back in 2019. With that being said, however, that’s the closest we’ve ever come to anything resembling a collaboration between the two. 5. Tyler Childers & Sierra Ferrell Even disregarding the long-standing rumor that Childers’ “Charleston Girl” was written about Ferrell, it’s pretty hard to ignore the similarities between the two musically. Between both powerhouses being firmly planted in the roots of Appalachia, with Childers being from Kentucky and Ferrell being from West Virginia, and the pair cementing themselves as two staples of the current roots movement in the genre, it’s hard to even imagine the magic they could come up with in the studio. Considering how far they’ve stretched themselves creatively as of late, a potential collaboration between Childers and Ferrell could wind up being one of the most magical, weird and simultaneously beautiful team-ups in country music history.The post 5 Country Collaborations That Would Break The Internet first appeared on Whiskey Riff.