Emmylou Harris Says She’s an ‘Excellent Ex-Wife’—Inside Her 3 Musical Marriages
See the sweet things she said about her ex-husbands and how they shaped her career
With her gorgeously pure vocals and ethereal stage presence, Emmylou Harris has long been an icon of country music. The silver-haired singer has collaborated with luminaries like Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt (in their harmonizing supergroup, Trio), Gram Parsons (who discovered her and was her earliest mentor, sparking rumors of romance), Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Neil Young and Johnny Cash, to name just a few, and was a mainstay of the Billboard country music charts throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Harris has always captivated listeners, and her personal life is nearly as intriguing as her music.
Harris has been married to three fellow musicians, and has embraced singlehood following the dissolution of her third marriage, quipping, “I’ve accepted the fact that I’m an excellent ex-wife.” Read on to learn all about the singer’s marriages and see what she’s had to say about her relationships.
Emmylou Harris’ brief first marriage to fellow folkie Tom Slocum
In 1969, Emmylou Harris married her first husband, Tom Slocum, a fellow musician she met as an up-and-comer in the folk scene. Slocum wrote the title track on her debut album, Gliding Bird, that same year, and their daughter, Hallie, was born in 1970.
Harris and Slocum divorced in 1971, and as a single mom, Harris often brought young Hallie on tour. Looking back at her early years and the dissolution of her first marriage, Harris admitted, “I didn’t really know much about babies or being a mother. And I suppose my life was still a little rocky at that point.”
Emmylou Harris’ second husband, Brian Ahern: The man behind 11 of her albums
Harris met her second husband, producer Brian Ahern, when he was working on her 1975 album Pieces of the Sky. The musical collaborators became a couple and married in 1977. Their daughter, Meghann, was born in 1979. Between 1975 and 1983, Ahern produced 11 albums for Harris, and they yielded much of her best-loved work. The fruitful creative and personal partnership ended when they divorced in 1984.
While Harris and Ahern’s marriage didn’t last, they’ve shared the stage since their split, and have remained friendly. Ahern even produced Harris’ 2008 album All I Intended to Be, and upon the album’s release, she spoke adoringly about their collaboration, observing, “We’ve always worked incredibly well together. Even from those first sessions, when I was so unsure of myself, it wasn’t long for me to feel comfortable because one of Brian’s many talents is his ability to sense an artist’s strengths and encourage them without putting you on the spot.”
Looking back at her seven-year marriage to her producer decades later, Harris shared a sweet remembrance of her second husband and their daughter, saying, “My husband and I had a great relationship. We both already had daughters from other marriages and having a child together was a combination of our love and respect and regard for each other, and the life we were going to have, becoming a family with the other daughters. Yes, at that point, the world was in a perfect place and all the planets were aligned.”
Emmylou Harris’ third marriage to writing partner Paul Kennerley
After her divorce from Ahern, Harris married another musical collaborator, Paul Kennerley, in 1985. During her early career, Harris was primarily known as an interpreter of others’ songs, rather than a songwriter herself, but during her marriage to Kennerley, she took a more active role in writing. Harris’ biographical 1985 concept album The Ballad of Sally Rose was entirely cowritten by her and her third husband, and he also served as producer.
Kennerley went on to produce her album Thirteen (1986) and he wrote or cowrote many of her songs throughout the ’80s and early ’90s before they divorced in 1993. Like with her previous husband, Harris and Kennerley continued to work together after their breakup, and he wrote a number of songs for her.
Harris cited Kennerley as a major artistic influence who helped her learn how to tell personal stories through her songs, and long after her divorce, she called him, “such a fantastic songwriter.”
Since her last failed marriage, Harris has said, “I actually have a good relation with the men I’ve married, who are wonderful men, but it’s just not in the cards for me . . . I don’t think everyone is suited for long, intimate relationships.” She’s also waxed philosophical on single life, musing, “I have a wonderful life filled with family, friends, dogs and children, but I’m not in a relationship. I mean, I have so many relationships, but not the type that people feel you need to complete yourself. I don’t hold to that. We all feel that something is missing, when there probably isn’t.”
Harris’ three marriages have spawned many a classic song, and it’s clear that the country star has an admirably positive and creatively fulfilling relationship with her exes.
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