Country Music’s Wild Mother’s Day Week: Two Divorces + a Wedding! [A Recap]

What the heck was in the air around mid-May in the Middle Tennessee area in 2026?!

Mother's Day and the surrounding week was a very eventful time for country music love stories...and at the time, we only knew a third of what was going down. The rest of the news came out in the weeks and months that followed, painting a picture of a very specific batch of days when one marriage began, and two more came to an end.

We'll start with the good news first.

Lainey Wilson Surprised Fans By Marrying Devlin "Duck" Hodges on Mother's Day

Lainey Wilson pulled a Mother's Day fast one on us: We knew she and Devlin "Duck" Hodges were engaged, but she made it sound like wedding bells were still a long ways off.

Not so. The couple got married on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10) in a Dickson, Tenn. cave venue called Ruskin Cave.

They went on a brief honeymoon, then headed to the 2026 ACM Awards a week later on May 17, where fans got their first up-close-an-personal look at her massive ring. 

Read More: Everything We Know About Lainey Wilson + Devlin "Duck" Hodges' Wedding

The wedding guest list was star-studded: Among the attendees were Miranda Lambert, Ella Langley and Jelly Roll, the latter of whom featured Wilson on the 2023 hit version of his song "Save Me." They're also longtime friends.

Still, in retrospect, it's kind of surprising he attended Wilson's wedding because...

Jelly Roll + Bunnie Xo's Marriage Ended With a Mother's Day Fight

That's right: The very same day that Jelly celebrated Lainey Wilson's happily ever after, his own marriage of nearly 10 years was coming to a close.

He would file for divorce from his wife Bunnie Xo about a week later, on May 18. His filing documents list their separation date as May 9, but in a tell-all episode of her Dumb Blonde podcast published in June, Bunnie said it was a fight the following day — Mother's Day, May 10 — that caused her to pack her bags, leave the house an tell him to draw up divorce papers.

Read More: Three Big Revelations From Bunnie Xo's First Post-Divorce Podcast

"He was so mad, and we were so emotional that he ended up doing exactly what I told him to do and filing the divorce papers," Bunnie recounted.

Amy Sussman, Getty Images

Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo married in August 2016. They had their fair share of turmoil as a couple — including one separation after Jelly cheated, shortly after they wed — but still, they seemed like one of country music's strongest couples.

Fans didn't get the news until about a month after Jelly filed. But once their separation became public, it seemed like any bad blood between the two had cooled: They both issued statements saying they're still best friends. Bunnie even said they're still planning to have a baby together.

Read More: Bunnie Xo Spotted Kissing a Reality TV Star at Jelly Roll's Bar — Who's the Guy?

But it turns out, mid-May had one more surprise for country music fans. Another star couple had quietly begun divorce proceedings, and wouldn't share their news with the world until July.

Jon Pardi's Wife Summer Filed For Divorce Just Two Days After Mother's Day

Jon Pardi's wife of five and a half years, Summer, filed divorce papers on Tuesday, May 12. The country star was served the following day.

Emma McIntyre, Getty Images

They kept their news quiet for nearly two months, and finally revealed it in a joint social media post on July 3.

Read More: Jon Pardi and Summer Pardi's Divorce Timeline

If they were looking to minimize the public fallout from their split, they picked a great day to announce the news: Not only was July 3 the Friday heading into Independence Day weekend, but it was also Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding day, and much of the press had their eyes trained on Madison Square Garden when the Pardis broke their divorce news.

Read More: See What Miranda Lambert, Kelsea Ballerini + More Wore to Taylor Swift's Wedding

The timing of the announcement, combined with the statements each member of the ex-couple shared individually, paints a picture of two people who'd really prefer to keep the details of their separation out of the press as much as possible.

Based on what they've said, it seems unlikely that we'll ever know the full story behind why the couple split up.

Just two days before Summer initiated divorce filings, Pardi shared a Mother's Day roundup of photos of her with their two young daughters, writing, "Happy mothers day to Super Mom."

He'd use that nickname for her one more time in a birthday post for her on May 27. In that post, he also described Summer as "smart, strong, beautiful."

Why Mother's Day?

It's worth noting that Mother's Day is significant to both of the divorcing couples. Jon and Summer Pardi share two young children, as he referenced in his Mother's Day post for Summer.

While Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo don't share any biological kids, she is mom to his 18-year-old daughter Bailee, who was born from Jelly's previous relationship with Felicia Beckwith. Bunnie was instrumental in helping Jelly obtain full custody of Bailee when she was about 9 years old, and has raised Bailee alongside him ever since.

In a May 10 social media post that turned out to be her final post with Jelly Roll before their divorce was announced, Bunnie celebrated Mother's Day by sharing video of the three of them together from Bailee's prom night.

"Never believed in ever after happily til y'all," she wrote, also wishing a happy Mother's Day "to all the mamas...dog moms, cat moms, cow moms, bonus moms, plant moms & the women who love with a mother's heart."

As for Lainey Wilson and Devlin "Duck" Hodges? Well, they don't have any kids, though presumably they wished a happy Mother's Day to their mamas. Our best guess is that it was simply a weekend that worked with Wilson's busy touring schedule.