Another country duo going their separate ways.
Maddie Font and Taylor “Tae” Kerr have been together as a vocal duo for well over a decade, getting their start under the name Sweet Aliana while in high school before eventually singing with Big Machine Records as Maddie & Tae back in 2014.
The duo found immediate success with their 2014 debut single “Girl In A Country Song,” which was a critical look at the bro-country era’s treatment of women in their songs. Honestly, it was pretty bada– for them to come out of the gate with a song calling out all of the “girl in cutoff jeans riding shotgun” songs at the time:
“Bein’ the girl in a country song
How in the world did it go so wrong?
Like all we’re good for is lookin’ good for
You and your friends on the weekend, nothin’ more
We used to get a little respect
Now we’re lucky if we even get
To climb up in your truck, keep our mouth shut and ride along
And be the girl in a country song”
Maddie & Tae found some minor success with their next few singles, but their next real hit didn’t come until 2019 when they released “Die From A Broken Heart,” which hit #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
Despite only having a couple of hits, the duo has been nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year by the CMA Awards every year since 2015, though that seems more so driven by the lack of duos in country music than an indication of their success. Not knocking them at all, but when you compare their resumé to Brooks & Dunn or even Florida Georgia Line, it’s not really in the same category.
But now, like Florida Georgia Line, Maddie & Tae have announced that they’ll be going their separate ways.
Unlike FGL, this split isn’t driven by any hard feelings between the two singers or a desire to pursue their own solo careers. In fact, during an interview with People announcing the split, Tae revealed that she’s stepping back from the music industry altogether to focus on a more important job: Being a mother.
Tae and her husband, Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Josh Kerr, have two children together, including 4-year old daughter Leighton and a 13-month old son, Chapel. And eventually, Tae realized that her heart was at home with her family and not in music and being out on the road:
“Maddie was just like, ‘Tell me where your heart is. And I was like, ‘My heart is at home.’ And she said, ‘Okay. Then that’s what we need to do.’”
Maddie, meanwhile, plans to pursue a solo career while also balancing her own life as a mother to her 2-year old son, Forrest:
“I’m a mother, too, so I totally understand the pull. We both were very aware of T’s heart just not being in touring as much.”
But the duo remain best friends, and are leaving open the possibility of a reunion in the future. According to Maddie:
“We’re leaving this so open-ended because, you know, we might make another record one day,” Font, 30, says. “We might go do some tour dates one day…
Even though we’re not gonna go on this journey as Maddie & Tae together, we’re still walking and doing life together outside of it. And I think I’m really excited to just be best friends and nurture our friendship and not have to worry as much about the work and still get to raise our babies together. None of that changes.”
Luckily this sounds a lot more amicable than the last country duo that broke up. And it’s probably why they’re hesitant to even call it a “breakup.”
“It sounds so dramatic, and we don’t want it to feel that way. You’ve seen other duos that break up, and they hate each other and blah-blah-blah. I know the world’s probably ready for us to hate each other, especially because we’re women. That just happens for some reason. And that’s why we want to do it this way, to show what it looks like to be two strong, independent, loving women…”
The duo have a few tour dates left in 2026, and Maddie is already working on solo projects, with Tae already agreeing to join her on some of those.
You’ve got to respect somebody who chooses to put their career on hold for their kids and their family, so hopefully this works out for the best for both of them.
And now that there’s an open spot in the Duo of the Year category, maybe Muscadine Bloodline will finally get the respect they deserve…
