Zac Brown & Wife Shelly Split After 12 Years of Marriage

Country singer Zac Brown and wife Shelly are pulling the plug on their 12-year marriage.

In a joint statement to E! News, the pair said, “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.

“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. 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 statement continued. “Family comes in all different forms. 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.”

Last year, Shelly became emotional while opening up about their relationship. She told Grand Ole Opry's “Better Half” series, “A friend of his introduced us. I was really young — I had just finished college. On our first date, [Zac] told me he wanted to create a camp for kids… I can't ever tell this story without crying… I'm going to cry.”