Kyle Jacobs, husband of ‘American Idol’ star Kellie Pickler, dead at 49

Kellie Pickler’s husband, songwriter Kyle Jacobs, was found dead at their home in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department say that a 911 call was received at 1:21 p.m from the home on Sneed Road on Friday.

Police and the Nashville Fire Department arrived at the location and noted that they found Kyle Jacobs “deceased from an apparent gunshot self-inflicted gunshot wound”, according to police.

Statement from the police department

“Nashville Fire Department personnel responded and located resident Kyle Jacobs, 49, deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in an upstairs bedroom/office. His death is being investigated as an apparent suicide,” read a statement from the MNPD as per Variety.

“Mr. Jacobs’ wife, Kellie Pickler, reported that she awoke a short time earlier, did not see her husband, and began looking for him.

“After she and her personal assistant were unable to open the door to the upstairs bedroom/office, the assistant telephoned 911.”

Pickler rose to fame as a contestant on the fifth season of American Idol back in 2006. She finished sixth, and then went on to sign with 19 Recordings and BNA Records as a recording artist later that year.

Her hit songs include ‘Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful’ and ‘Best Days of Your Life’, co-written with Taylor Swift.

Jacobs co-wrote Garth Brooks’ No.1 song ‘More than a Memory’ as well as Tim McGraw’s ‘Still’. He also produced singles for Lee Brice, and collaborated with Pickler, Kelly Clarkson, Scott McCreery and Darius Rucker.

Pickler and Jacobs were introduced through mutual friends. After dating for two and a half years, Jacobs proposed on June 15, 2010.

A few months later they got married on the beach in Antigua on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2011.

In 2015, they starred in a CMT reality show titled ‘I Love Kellie Pickler’, which ran until October 5, 2017.