Kellie Pickler Gives First Interview Since Husband’s Death Nearly Three Years Ago: ‘I’m Very Blessed’

Kellie Pickler gave her first interview since the passing of her husband, Kyle Jacobs, nearly three years after his death.

The country singer made a rare public appearance last week when she returned to the American Idol stage nearly two decades after she first competed on the show. Pickler joined season 24 winner Hannah Harper for a duet of Martina McBride‘s “A Broken Wing,” the very same song she performed at her 2005 audition.

The full-circle moment was not lost on her.

“It’s so nice that each time you come back to Idol, it’s kind of like you pick up right where you left off with everyone,” the “Red High Heels” singer told host Danielle Fishel on the May 6 episode of the American Idol Official Podcast.

Praising her American Idol family, Pickler added, “I hope people really believe me when I say this: it is a family here. It is an Idol family, and once you’re a part of it, it’s forever … We take care of each other.”

Pickler, who reached the top six in season 5, was 19 years old when she flew to Hollywood for her audition. She had never been on a plane before.

“It’s wild to think, ‘wow, 20 years have passed.’ A lot’s happened and I’m very blessed. I’m very blessed,” the Dancing With the Stars champion said.

Pickler met Jacobs while working on her second album. The two eloped on New Year’s Day in 2011, per People. In February 2023, he received platinum certification for “Hey World,” a song he wrote for country artist Lee Brice. He tragically passed away, the next day, on February 17, 2023, at their Nashville home at 49 by way of suicide, as confirmed by ABC News.

Pickler’s only words at the time came in a brief statement to People in September, seven months after his passing.

“One of the most beautiful lessons my husband taught me was in a moment of a crisis, if you don’t know what to do, ‘do nothing, just be still,'” she said. “I have chosen to heed his advice.”

In the years since, she has stayed largely out of the public eye and off social media entirely.

Her American Idol appearance was only her second performance since Jacobs’ passing. In 2024, she performed “The Woman I Am,” a song she co-wrote with her late husband, at a Patsy Cline tribute show, per Billboard.

Several of her fellow season 5 finalists joined her for the Sunday, May 4 episode, including winner Taylor Hicks, Bucky Covington, Paris Bennett, and Elliott Yamin.

“It was so great to see everyone,” Pickler told Fishel on the podcast. “It was really, really lovely.”

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