Who Is Ruston Kelly? New Details About Kacey Musgraves' Husband
He's a country singer, too!
getty Who is Ruston Kelly? He’s one proud husband, that’s for sure! Just this past weekend, his wife, Kacey Musgraves, swept all four categories she was nominated for at the Grammy Awards! She won Best Country Solo Performance for “Butterflies,” Best Country Song for “Space Cowboy,” Best Country Album, and Album of the Year for “Golden Hour.” How’s that for accomplishment?
But aside from her amazing career, incredible accomplishments before turning 30, and widespread acclaim of her fourth studio album, she also has a beautiful love story. She and Kelly have been married for just over a year, but their relationship is inspiring on its own.
Don’t believe us? Here are eight things to know about Ruston Kelly, including his own career and accomplishments, battles in his past, and his undying love for Musgraves.
1. He’s a singer/songwriter.
Kelly is known for writing heartbreaking but inspiring songs that are “always unflinching in their self-examination.” His style has been described as “a gravelly patchwork of folk lyricism, grunge attitude, country heart, Americana spirit, and rock energy.” He’s written songs for Tim McGraw and Josh Abbott Band, and toured with The Lumineers and Robert Earl Keen. Kelly released a debut EP and a full-length album in 2017. He’s currently touring.
According to him:
“As far as I’m concerned, artwork should be inherently transparent. As transparent as f***ing glass. Whatever is occurring in the walls of your head, inside your brain, inside your psyche, you’re bringing out into that world and telling people. Like, ‘This is what happened to me.’ I feel like there’s no other way to do that then to be as raw and honest as possible.
“For some reason I felt like I was born with some kind of hole in my soul... Whether that’s in my chemical makeup, anxiety, depression or whatever it was, music alleviated that pain. Creating meant I was better able to understand myself and the world. I was trying to connect myself with what I thought was divine. I was really looking for bliss.”
2. He’s also a visual artist.
In addition to writing and singing music, he posts his drawings on his Instagram page occasionally. And though they are quite creepy, there’s no denying talent when you see it.
3. He overcame addiction.
For many years, Kelly was addicted to cocaine and amphetamine and lived in a van. He overdosed in 2016, but has been committed to being sober.
“I’m learning that it’s something that’s always going to be there,” he told Sounds Like Nashville. “I can’t pretend that I have a life away from that anymore. For a while I was like, ‘I’m over that s***. I don’t do drugs anymore. I’m not an addict.’ And then every time I got to that place where I felt so strong and bold, something would come and all of a sudden it would trigger cravings and I’d be tempted...there’s always a little bit of a shadow there. You don’t have to live in your shadow though. You can be on top of it.”
4. He met Musgraves at a bar.
In 2016, shortly after he overdosed, Kelly was playing at Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. When he began to play, Musgraves thought his music sounded like her favorite artist, John Prine, and after he was finished playing, she approached him.
“Ruston played his first song, and I was just stunned by everything in it — the words, the melody, what he was saying. I was just sitting at this table, crying,” Musgraves told People Magazine. When she approached him, Kelly was taken aback by her beauty, recalling, “I thought, ‘this is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.’”
They eventually set up a meeting to write songs together but instead, talked late into the night, talking well past 3 AM. They started dating shortly after.
5. They’ve been married for just over a year.
Kelly proposed to Musgraves on Christmas Eve 2016 and the two wed in October 2017. Their wedding was featured in Martha Stewart Weddings.
6. He’s changed his wife for the better.
He changed her “perspective on life,” and before they met, she never wrote love songs though, now, she writes them freely.
“I’ve never had love songs or relationship songs. I write about other things, other people’s stories or perspectives. When you’re with someone you truly love to the core and they feel that way about you, there’s no sense of panic or that it’s going to come apart. I’m living in a much more positive light now. It’s maybe opened my heart a little," she said.
In an interview with Texas Monthly, Musgraves recalled, “It was just like when Dorothy opens a door in the Wizard of Oz, and the world turns into color from black and white.” Since then, she’s written and recorded songs like “Golden Hour” and “Butterflies,” describing “how his love lifts her up.”
7. And she’s also changed him.
Kelly says that Musgraves’ love has given him strength over the years, especially considering the demons he had to overcome before they met. He told Rolling Stone, “She was such a strong redemptive force in my life. I didn’t think I was worthy of anything. She reminded me that it doesn’t matter, that everyone has a past. Someone has to help pick you up somehow.”
8. They’ve collaborated.
The two recorded “To June This Morning” for the Forever Words album, which was a compilation of Johnny Cash’s writings and poems put to music.
Samantha Maffucci is an associate editor for YourTango who focuses on writing trending news and entertainment pieces. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.