Kacey Musgraves appears to have a new man in her life! Following her split from husband Ruston Kelly [1] in July 2020, the "Butterflies" singer has most recently been linked to writer Cole Schafer after they were spotted holding hands in NYC this month. While not much is known about their romance and how they initially got together, it does have us thinking about the previous men Kacey has been linked to. One of them even inspired a handful of her biggest love songs [2]. Perhaps her romance with Cole will inspire even more heartfelt tracks on her upcoming album [3]. Read ahead for all the men who have dated Kacey over the years.
Misa Arriaga
One of Kacey's first relationships in the spotlight was with her former bandmate, guitarist Misa Arriaga. The two dated during her Pageant Material era in 2015 but split sometime after touring together. "I was in a weird place personally," she previously told Spin about that period of time in her life [5]. "I was getting out of a long relationship, I didn't have a lot of self-confidence. I didn't feel great about myself, so I needed time to figure it out again."
Ruston Kelly
Following her breakup from Misa, Kacey eventually fell for country singer Ruston Kelly after meeting him at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville in early 2016. She wrote her hit love song "Butterflies" about their first interaction [6], and most of her Golden Hour album is inspired by their relationship. The couple got engaged on Christmas Eve 2016 and tied the knot in October 2017. In July 2020, the couple announced they were getting divorced [7].
"We've made this painful decision together — a healthy decision that comes after a very long period of trying the best we can. It simply just didn't work," the statement read. "Though we are parting ways in marriage, we will remain true friends for the rest of our lives. We hold no blame, anger, or contempt for each other and we ask for privacy and positive wishes for us both as we learn how to navigate through this."
Gerald Onuoha
In April 2021, Kacey sparked romance rumours with Dr. Gerald Onuoha [8] after they were spotted getting cosy in LA [9]. They eventually went Instagram official a few days later when Kacey shared a selfie of them on her Instagram Story. Though the pair never commented on the status of their relationship, Gerald did seem to hint at their romance [10] back in February 2021 when he tweeted, "Date In Private. Love In Private. Be Happy In Private."
The pair appeared to split sometime after, as Kacey was spotted holding hands with Cole Schafer in June 2021. Gerald seemingly alluded to their breakup [11] with a cryptic tweet on June 20 that read: "Being single until you find what you want is hard. Spending your time with somebody you ain't suppose to is hard. Choose your hard."
Cole Schafer
On June 18, 2021, Kacey sparked romance rumours again when she was spotted holding hands with writer Cole Schafer in NYC. Cole seemingly confirmed their relationship as he posted a cuddly photo of them on Instagram [12], writing, "I'm trying like hell not to write about her." Though Kacey has yet to post a photo of them on her own social media, she did comment on Cole's post with a black heart.