Kacey Musgraves Says Being 'Alone' Post-Breakup Helped Her Realize She Doesn't 'Need Anyone to Be Happy'
Kacey Musgraves Says Being 'Alone' Post-Breakup Helped Her Realize She Doesn't 'Need Anyone to Be Happy'
Daniela AvilaWed, March 11, 2026 at 10:28 PM UTC
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Kacey Musgraves in New York in September 2024Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty -
Kacey Musgraves opened up about enjoying her solitude and how it inspired her new song "Dry Spell"
"I started really loving my singledom," she told NPR Music
Musgraves' new album Middle of Nowhere is out May 1
Kacey Musgraves is enjoying her solitude.
To celebrate the release of her newest single "Dry Spell" and the announcement of her new album, the country singer sat down with NPR Music to discuss how the song was inspired by her newfound "singledom," and how it proved fruitful in her songwriting.
"I typically always have been in relationships. This was the longest period in my adult life where I was on my own, and I had gone through a breakup," Musgraves, 37, said, explaining the inspiration behind "Dry Spell."
"I was taking stock of my relationships and what I wanted in my life, and really learning how to lean into being alone. I started really loving my singledom," she continued. "It was a long time without any intimacy with anyone else, and I had always feared that before I experienced it, just having this notion that I needed someone to be happy, which I found to be completely untrue."
Musgraves wrote the song during "the longest single period of my life" — and she wanted a humorous approach.
Kacey Musgraves in Los Angeles in February 2025Credit: Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty
"I was craving humor again. That was a big part of earlier albums, and then I maybe purposefully steered away from that, just so I didn't paint myself into some sort of bumper sticker lane. And then life happens," the "Follow Your Arrow" singer explained. "There's a divorce album [Star-Crossed], Golden Hour is its own thing. Deeper Well is pretty introspective, kind of calm and therapeutic. And then now we're here."
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Musgraves was most recently in a public relationship with writer Cole Schafer, whom she dated for two years following her divorce from country singer Ruston Kelly in July 2020.
In March 2024, Musgraves opened up about opened up about their breakup in an interview with The Cut.
“Whenever I’m in a relationship, I’m all f---ing in,” she told the publication. “After divorce, it’s like: On one hand I do want to self-protect, but at the same time, if your heart is feeling open, I think you have to just show up for it. I’m still trying to figure out the balance of that.”
In her conversation with NPR Music, Musgraves reflected on her solitude and said she now knows "that I don't need anyone to be happy."
"Because now whatever I do choose to put back into my life, whether it's friends, opportunities, relationships, it can be because it actually really serves me, because now I know I'm freaking good without it. So there's a confidence that comes with that, kind of a clarity," she said.
Musgraves new album, titled Middle of Nowhere, is out May 1. In a press release announcing the album, the "High Horse" singer said the project was written "during a period of reflection and post-breakup clarity."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
