Michelle Branch and Patrick Carney separate after three years of marriage

The singer and Black Keys drummer share son Rhys James, four, and daughter Willie Jacquet, six months

Meredith Clark
New York
Friday 12 August 2022 15:08 BST
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Michelle Branch has announced her separation from Patrick Carney after three years of marriage.

"To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family,” Branch, 39, said in a statement to People. “The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness."

The news comes after the Grammy award-winning singer reportedly tweeted and deleted a post on Wednesday night accusing the Black Keys drummer of cheating on her while she was “at home with our six month old baby.”

Branch and Carney share son Rhys James, four, and daughter Willie Jacquet, who was born earlier this year. Branch is also a mother to 17-year-old daughter Owen Isabelle from her previous marriage to bassist Teddy Landau, before separating in 2014.

The “Elsewhere” singer and Carney tied the knot in April 2019 at the Marigny Opera House in New Orleans, just one year after welcoming their son together. In February, the former couple announced the birth of their second child, Willie Jacquet, in an Instagram post.

"Welcome to the world, sweet Willie girl," Branch captioned the announcement. "She’s named after Patrick’s grandmother Willie Madge and has my mother’s maiden name/my middle name. We’re so in love.”

Branch praised Carney on Instagram just two months before their split with a Father’s Day tribute posted to Instagram. “This guy makes our world go around and we love him so,” she captioned the post, which showed Carney posing with their son Rhys. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to golf yesterday, Patrick!”

The Black Keys are currently on tour in support of their eleventh album, Dropout Boogie, which was released in May, while Branch is gearing up to release her fourth album, The Trouble With Fever, on 16 September.

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