Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert divorcing
After years of tabloid gossip claiming marital troubles, country music’s top couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert announced their divorce after four years of marriage.
The news was confirmed in a statement by the couple to the Associated Press, issued by their representatives Monday.
“This is not the future we envisioned,” the former couple said in the statement.
“And it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately. We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter.”
The two multiplatinum stars came together just as their careers were hitting their peak, but the couple had to constantly deny rumors that their superstar careers were taking a toll on their marriage. Although sometimes they joked about competing against each other for awards, publicly they were constantly championing each other’s successes and there were no obvious signs of trouble when the couple appeared at the Academy of Country Music Awards together in April.
Grammy-winning native Texan Lambert, 31, is one of country music’s most lauded female singers with her fiery brand of sass and sincerity. The 39-year-old Shelton’s first marriage of three years ended in divorce.
“We’re a really normal couple,” Lambert told the Associated Press in 2010. “We like to back-road and hunt and fish. When we’re home, we’re not in that mode. We’re not in work mode, but it’s so great to have success together.”
But tabloids hounded the couple. “There are people who literally, their only job is to make other people miserable, and that’s a terrible way to live your life,” Lambert told the AP in 2014.
Keillor leaving ‘Prairie Home’
Garrison Keillor, creator and longtime host of “A Prairie Home Companion,” says the next season of the popular radio show will be his last as host.
The 72-year-old Keillor has announced his retirement before, then reconsidered. But, he told the Associated Press on Monday, this time he’s certain. He said he’s chosen musician Chris Thile to succeed him as host in September 2016. His final show as host will be in July 2016.
Keillor said he’ll remain as executive producer and the show will continue to have a Midwestern feel. But his weekly monologue and recurring skits, such as private eye Guy Noir and hapless cowboys Dusty and Lefty, won’t be part of it.
Keillor said he has “a lot of other things that I want to do.”
The birthday bunch
Singer Kay Starr is 93. Actor David Downing is 72. Singer Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) is 67. Cartoonist Garry Trudeau is 67. Comedian Jon Lovitz is 58. Actor Lance Guest is 55. Actress Alysia Reiner is 45. Christian rock musician Korey Cooper (Skillet) is 43. Actress Ali Landry is 42. Actor Josh Hartnett is 37.