We heard the awful news this week that Kellie Pickler’s husband . . . songwriter Kyle Jacobs . . . died of an apparent suicide last Friday. Now his longtime friend Lee Brice has opened up about it. He posted on Instagram yesterday and admitted he’s really been struggling. Quote, “These past few days have truly been some of the hardest of my life. At times, I feel lost and buried under this deep sadness.” He also said he’s been trying to remember the good times they had, adding that Kyle was “without a doubt, one of the best people anyone could ever hope to have in their corner.” Lee and Kyle wrote a ton of stuff together, including the hit song, “Rumor”. He produced a lot of Lee’s other hits too, like “I Drive Your Truck”, “Hard to Love”, and “Boy”. They also co-wrote one of Garth Brooks’ biggest hits, “More Than a Memory”.
We know Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans did “years of couples therapy” before getting divorced last year. This may be one of the issues they tried to work through. A source told Page Six that Kelsea had an affair with Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers back in August of 2019 at Lollapalooza. They had already collaborated on the song “This Feeling”, so they knew each other. And if it is true, Kelsea kept it to herself for a long time. The source also said she didn’t tell Morgan until two years later, in 2021. Apparently, there have been rumors about this in the past, but no one reported on it until now.
Brad Paisley has just scored a new record deal with Universal Nashville. The terms weren’t released, but it’ll kick off with his next album, which is expected to come out later this year. The first single, “Same Here”, will be out tomorrow.
Some people will argue to the death about where to find the best pizza. I doubt Thomas Rhett cares that much . . . but he does have a favorite, and it can only be found in Italy. “[Their] pizza just puts our pizza to shame. Yeah, it’s just thinner, and the tomato sauce is so much fresher. Oh my gosh, I could eat that Margherita pizza every day.”
Reba McEntire will be joining this season of “The Voice” as a mega mentor. She’ll advise contestants who make it through battle rounds, as they prepare for knockouts. The show premieres March 6th on NBC.
Dierks Bentley’s new album “Gravel & Gold” is out tomorrow . . . and he’s promoting it with a livestream concert TONIGHT at 8:00 P.M. Eastern. “An Evening With Dierks Bentley: The Road To Gravel & Gold” will stream on a new Twitch channel called 3point5.
Dakota Fanning is 29. Sara Howard on “The Alienist”, Cherie Currie in “The Runaways”, and Jane in the “Twilight” movies. She was also in “I Am Sam”, “Uptown Girls”, “War of the Worlds” and “Charlotte’s Web”.
Emily Blunt is 40. The Rock’s costar in the “Jungle Cruise” movie
Steve Holy is 51
Marc Price is 55. Skippy on “Family Ties”.
Kristin Davis is 58. Charlotte on “Sex and the City”.
Tom Bodett is 68. Motel 6 spokes-legend.
Patricia Richardson is 72. Tim Allen’s wife Jill Taylor on “Home Improvement”.
Ed “Too Tall” Jones is 72. 6-foot-9 Dallas Cowboys legend.
