American music producer Kyle Jacobs, the husband of country music singer Kellie Pickler, died in an apparent suicide, according to authorities. He was 49.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department confirmed in a statement obtained by People that Jacobs was found dead at a Tennessee home shortly after 1:20 p.m. on Friday with an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Investigators noted that the producer’s death is being investigated “as an apparent suicide.”
Pickler, who rose to fame as a contestant on the fifth season of “American Idol,” told authorities that she couldn’t find her husband upon waking up. Pickler then notified police after she and her personal assistant were unable to open a door to a room in the house, according to the statement.
During Jacobs’s career as a songwriter and music producer, he collaborated with top writers and artists such as Darius Rucker, Rachel Thibodeau, and Wynonna.
Jacobs also co-starred alongside his 36-year-old wife in the Country Music Television (CMT) reality television series, “I Love Kellie Pickler,” which debuted in 2015. The show follows the life of Pickler’s “wonderful, wild, and crazy world” as she navigates through the “ever-changing world of the music industry,” according to a CMT press release.
Kellie Pickler (L) and Kyle Jacobs attend the 2017 CMT Music awards at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 7, 2017. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CMT)
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Kellie Pickler and the rest of the Jacobs family,” CMT said in a statement on Twitter.
Jacobs was also the co-writer on Garth Brooks’s single, “More than a Memory,” which debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, while also peaking at number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Just one day before news broke of Jacobs’s reported suicide, he announced on Instagram that Lee Brice’s “Hey World” will become certified platinum.
“Platinum?! SWEEEET!!! An amazing crew of incredibly talented peeps put this one together…Deeply honored to be a creative part of it…Thank you Jesus!!! Jacobs said in the post.
Jacobs also produced four No. 1 singles for Brice, “Hard To Love,” “I Drive Your Truck,” “Drinking Class,” as well as “Rumor,” which was also the songwriter’s last No. 1, according to Curb Word, an independent music publisher in Nashville.
In 2011, Pickler and Jacobs were married during a private ceremony on New Year’s Day. The couple first started dating in 2008.
“It was the most spiritual moment,” Pickler said of his proposal, which happened in 2010 on a beach in Florida. “We would’ve gotten married that night had there been a preacher walking by!”
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to connect with a trained counselor or visit the Lifeline site.
