Kylie Morgan gets emotional onstage singing about divorce from Jay Allen

The country music world was stunned earlier this year when new broke that Jay Allen and Kylie Morgan had gotten divorced.

The performers were a popular young couple, and in the immediate fallout from the news some criticized Allen for making the announcement before Morgan was ready for it to get out there. And Allen, well … she did not say a whole lot for a while.

But she is certainly letting her music speak for her now, and it’s clear there is plenty of emotion there. Morgan made that clear this week when she shared a video to Instagram on Thursday that showed her signing her song, “Then You Happened,” live for the first time.

“I almost couldn’t finish the song because of so many emotions (appreciate everyone there who was so sweet to me about tearing up),” she wrote along with the video. “Writing songs about your life is terrifying. Reading the world (your) diary is like bleeding on paper and singing it for all to hear. You (open) the door to opinions (and) hateful words, and criticism from people who don’t even know you, your battles, or your real story.

“It never gets easier but reading all of your ‘then you happened’ stories & seeing how it has become a healing anthem for so many of you makes every negative and mean comment worth it.”

The song includes the lyrics, “Ball and chain, four walls/ Felt trapped in my own home / Soon as I got out / Swore I was better off alone / My heart had turned to stone / Then you happened to walk in …”

Taste of Country reported that Morgan and Allen began dating in 2015, and were married in 2022. The site said they separated in October of 2024, and she filed for divorce on Valentine’s Day this year with everything finalized on May 22.

Allen was the first to announce it.

“It’s with peace in my heart that I feel it’s time to share this,” he wrote on Instagram in May. “Kylie and I separated 6 months ago and made the decision to get divorced.

“I’ve been on a journey of sobriety, healing, growing, leaning into God and I’ve moved on,” he added. “I will always care for Kylie & wish her the best … GOD’S PLAN IS GREATER. *Proverbs 3:5-6”

Morgan remained relatively quiet, though, and fans seemed to believe that Allen shared the news before she was ready.

“(Expletive), dude,” one person responded to Allen’s post. “I always try to be neutral and stay out but this ain’t it. You feel it’s ‘time to share this’ because it feels right for YOU, but you post this without her knowledge or consent, so she’ll wake up to chaos & the drama … but you will ‘always care’ and ‘wish her the best’? (I don’t know) dude this feels a bit selfish to do with no heads up. I wish you peace but this really breaks my heart to see on the internet.”

“We all knew but I don’t think she was ready to share this …” another responded. “When my husband and I separated for a while he deleted our pictures before I was ready to ‘tell the world’ and it made me resent him. Not saying this is Kylie’s perspective but I am just saying relationships are hard and it’s harder when one person is ready to share and the other is not … I hope you both find peace and healing.”

“I do wish you the best of luck but honestly, you should not have posted this message before sharing a story where you are holding hands with another woman,” another wrote. “Honestly I lost a little respect for you when you posted that. If you’re ready to post another woman then you should be able to post the truth about the last one.”

“Sorry, God’s plan is not that you and your wife separate when your baby is 3+ months old,” another wrote. “Keep praying. Yes, I recognize zillion people are going to come at me. I’m not judging you for what (is) happening I’m judging you for saying this is part of God’s plan. Keep praying ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and your wife.”