Maddie & Tae have made the “heartbreaking” decision to go their separate ways after more than a decade together.
The country music duo, made up of Maddie Marlow Font and Tae Dye Kerr, first revealed their split to PEOPLE on Monday, Dec. 8.
Kerr plans on pausing her career to focus on her family while Font is planning a solo career. Both women plan to remain good friends and stay in touch.
“We’re leaving this so open-ended because, you know, we might make another record one day,” Font, 30, told PEOPLE. “We might go on some tour dates one day. But just in this season, it doesn’t feel aligned for us to do it together.”
“It’s been such a hard, hard — honestly, heartbreaking — decision,” Kerr, also 30, added. “This was the only dream I’ve ever had since I exited the womb. I had a very specific vision of creating music and singing. When we met at 15, that’s what we set out to do, and we’re both just so grateful that we’ve had the journey that we’ve had. This career has been everything we’ve ever wanted.”
The breakup is not immediate as Maddie & Tae still have shows scheduled through March of next year.
“Thank you for all the love as we step into this new bittersweet chapter,” the platinum-selling duo later posted on Instagram. “We both feel overwhelmed with gratitude for what we’ve built with y’all the last 12 years. Thank you for making our wildest dreams come true and we hope you stay close by to watch us chase some new dreams.”
Font and Kerry first met in 2010 through their vocal coach, who was based in Dallas, according to PEOPLE. They first performed under the name Sweet Aliana before moving to Nashville and changing names to Maddie & Tae.
The duo released their debut single “Girl in a Country Song” in 2014, which eventually topped the Country Airplay chart and was certified platinum by the RIAA. Maddie & Tae’s other notable hits are ”Fly,” “Shut Up and Fish,” “Sierra,” “Friends Don’t” and “Die from a Broken Heart.”
Maddie & Tae have released three albums — “Start Here” (2015), “The Way It Feels” (2020) and “Love & Light” (2025) — and several EPs over the span of their career.
The duo won the CMA Award for Music Video of the Year for “Girl in a Country Song” in 2015 as well as a CMT Award for Duo/Group Video of the Year in 2022.
