Kellie Pickler Makes Powerful Live Performance Return After Husband’s Death

The country star performed “The Woman I Am” — a song she co-wrote with Kyle Jacobs — at a special Patsy Cline tribute concert

Kellie Pickler returned to the stage for the first time since the death of her husband, Kyle Jacobs, performing a song they wrote together at a special concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium honoring Patsy Cline.

Pickler sang “The Woman I Am,” the title track from her 2013 album, which opens and closes with a refrain befitting the tribute concert, “Sometimes I cry at night/I fall to pieces with Patsy Cline/Man how many songs sound like that?/But that’s just the woman I am.”

Before launching into the song, Pickler briefly addressed the crowd. She noted it was her first time “on stage in a while” (per Setlist.fm, she hasn’t performed publicly since 2019) and expressed her deep admiration for Cline: “She is a huge reason why I fell in love with music.”

And Pickler also spoke about Jacobs, who died by suicide last February at the age of 49. “My husband and I actually wrote this song together over a decade ago,” she said. “The last time I was here in the Ryman Auditorium was with him on a date night, and I know he is here with us tonight.”

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Pickler has largely maintained her privacy since Jacobs’ death, though she did release a statement last August, saying, “One of the most beautiful lessons my husband taught me was in a moment of a crisis, if you don’t know what to do, ‘do nothing, just be still.’ I have chosen to heed his advice.” 

She went on to thank her “family, friends, and supporters for the countless letters, calls, and messages that you have sent my way. It has truly touched my soul and it’s helping me get through the darkest time in my life. As many of you have told me, you are all in my prayers.”