On Friday (Feb. 17), the country music world was in shock to learn the news of songwriter Kyle Jacobs’ passing. He’s responsible for many Top 10 country hits, and he was also the husband of country singer – and former American Idol star – Kellie Pickler.
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Following her rise to fame, Pickler competed – and eventually won – on the 16th season of Dancing With The Stars. Week 4’s theme of the show was “The Best Year Of Your Life,” and each celebrity chose what year was the best for them. Pickler chose 2011, the year she married Jacobs.
“The best thing that has ever happened to me [is] my husband,” she told her partner, Derek Hough.
She revealed to the audience that they’d be dancing their rumba that week to a song titled “Say I Do,” which was written by Jacobs. He performed the song live for Pickler and Hough’s dance.
In her pre-performance package, she opened up about her parents not being involved in her life, for various reasons, and she was kind of this lone wolf, going through life without anyone who loved her.
“It wasn’t until I met Kyle that I finally found my sanctuary,” she said.
They planned a huge wedding, but at the last minute they ended up running away to the Caribbean and were married with their feet in the ocean. Jacobs wrote the romantic ballad during the planning process of their wedding, the song expressing how he doesn’t need anything on their wedding day accept for her to say “I Do.”
“When Kyle played ‘Say I Do’ I fell to pieces because that song is my life, it’s our story. I just really didn’t know that this type of love even existed. He is my sanctuary, my rock, and January 1, 2011 was one of the most incredible days of my life,” she said.
After the gorgeous dance was done, Pickler ran up the steps to give her husband a kiss. You could feel their love through the TV screen.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Kellie and all who loved Kyle. Watch the rumba below.