In a tragedy that has left the world in shock, Kyle Jacobs – known as a respected country music songwriter and husband to former “American Idol” contestant Kellie Pickler- passed away at the age of 49 from an apparent suicide.
Don Aaron, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, verified to The Post that their authorities responded to an emergency call from the couple’s residence on Friday afternoon and discovered Jacobs had perished from self-inflicted gunshot wounds in one of the upper bedrooms/office areas.
According to the police, his passing is being investigated as a potential suicide.
Aaron continued, explaining that upon waking up, Pickler noticed her husband was nowhere to be found. Her assistant and herself both attempted to open the room in which Jacobs was later located but were unsuccessful; this prompted them to call 911 for assistance.
On June 26, 1973, Jacobs was brought into this world in Minnesota. He subsequently wrote Garth Brooks’s 2007 chart-topping single “More Than A Memory” – as well as Tim McGraw’s song “Still” and the Eli Young Band’s hit track “Dust”.
His compositions have been recorded by renowned musicians such as Pickler, George Strait, Kelly Clarkson, Thompson Square and Jo Dee Messina.
In 2006, Pickler gained notoriety on the fifth season of “American Idol” when she ended up in sixth place.
Her professional achievements came after an arduous past; she revealed to Us Weekly in 2006 that her mother had instructed her, with a kitchen knife in hand, to take her own life.
“I remember my mother and I were in the kitchen, and I said, ‘I wish God would take me away, I’d much rather be dead than live here with you.’ She took a knife out, set it on the counter, and said, ‘Here, do it then.’ I was in fourth grade. Of course, I would never have acted upon it, but it’s done a lot of emotional scarring.”
In 2007, Jacobs and Pickler crossed paths through their shared songwriter friends at a Nashville bar – setting the foundations for an enduring friendship.
“So we ended up sitting with him and his buddies, and we got lost in conversation and everybody else disappeared,” she said in 2015.
Promptly after they began working together, Pickler and Klein collaborated on a variety of tunes for her albums “100 Proof” in 2012 and “The Woman I Am” in 2013. His contributions can be heard on such songs as “Mother’s Day,” “The Woman I Am,” and the classic duet with Pickler, “Bonnie & Clyde.”
“I didn’t know someone like Kyle existed,” Pickler said in 2008 of her boyfriend at the time.
“He makes me feel so good about being me. I hadn’t seen the way a relationship should be. ”I’d never seen my mom and dad in the same room except in a courthouse. When I’m going through problems and saying, ‘I need a Xanax!’ Kyle says, ‘No, baby, let me be your pill.’ It’s so comforting.”
On the first day of the new year, 2011, the couple made a daring decision to elope in Antigua. “Kyle and I originally planned this big, extravagant wedding, and at the very last minute, I looked at him, and I said, ’Baby, this ain’t us.’ And he said, ’Let’s just run away,’” Pickler remembered.
Subsequently, she triumphed in the sixteenth season of “Dancing with the Stars” along with Derek Hough in 2013.
As Pickler and Hough competed, they danced the rumba to a special song created and performed by Jacobs specifically for the show called “Say I Do.” Expressing her sentiments on this track, Pickler stated: “That song is my life, it’s our story,” before taking center stage.
Jacobs’ Twitter bio proudly states that he is “happily married to my best friend.” The couple’s reality show, “I Love Kellie Pickler,” was a hit on CMT, running for three seasons from 2015 to 2017.
“He makes me feel so, so great about myself. I feel so beautiful when I’m with him,” Pickler said in 2021. “He always tells me he likes me better with no makeup on and sweatpants. He makes me feel the most beautiful when I’m with him. As long as I’m healthy, then he is fine with whatever I wear.”
On Friday, the country music scene was left in mourning following the news of Jacobs’ passing. Social media platforms were flooded with heartfelt messages and tributes to honor his memory.
“The Academy is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Kyle Jacobs, a talented Nashville songwriter & producer and the husband of Kellie Pickler. In 2014 Jacobs won an ACM Award as a producer of Lee Brice’s ‘I Drive Your Truck.’ Join us in sending condolences, love & healing,” the Academy of Country Music Awards wrote on Twitter.
CMT, the home of the couple’s reality show, shared a tweet that read: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Kellie Pickler and the rest of the Jacobs family.”
