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Country fans can all agree: Nobody captures the many shades of heartbreak better than their favorite genre’s leading ladies. Country music has worn many cowboy hats over the years, its steady dedication to storytelling has made it the perfect canvas for exploring the universal truths of divorce. From Dolly Parton‘s somber laments to Pistol Annie’s middle-fingers-up anthems, country queens have fully perfected the craft of the scorched-earth breakup tune.
In honor of this emotional tradition, we’ve compiled 12 of the most heartfelt and brutally honest divorce songs from the women of country.
“A Church, a Courtroom and Then Goodbye,” Patsy Cline (1955)
Righteous
Six years before her all-timer cover of Willie Nelson‘s “Crazy,” Patsy Cline traced two lovers’ short, sorry path from the altar to the end of the line with this bittersweet steel-guitar teardrop of a ballad.
“A Church, a Courtroom, and Then Goodbye” was Cline’s debut single, and was featured on her first EP, 1957’s Songs by Patsy Cline. —Leah Greenblatt
“D-I-V-O-R-C-E,” Tammy Wynette (1968)
Epic
Tammy Wynette knew her material firsthand — she tried on five husbands, and S-P-L-I-T with four — when she unleashed the world’s saddest spelling bee.
The First Lady of Country earned a Grammy nomination for the song, topping the Billboard country singles chart and even crossing over as a pop hit. —L.G.
“Rated ‘X’,” Loretta Lynn (1972)
MCA Nashville
Being a divorcée cuts both ways on Loretta Lynn‘s classic takedown of the unfair double standards for women who dare to wear the scarlet letter of singledom.
The song took on new life in the late-’90s with the White Stripes‘ cover version, which the duo often performed at live concerts. —L.G.
“Starting Over Again,” Dolly Parton (1980)
RCA Victor
No vamping “Jolene”s or heart-clutching “I Will Always Love You”s — just a pair of fools, their kids all grown and 30-year union dissolved, facing the grim prospect of turning 50 alone.
Despite Dolly Parton’s prolific songwriting career, “Starting Over Again” was actually written by another music icon, Donna Summer, and her husband Bruce Sudano. The song was also covered by Reba McEntire in 1995. —L.G.
“You Don’t Even Know Who I Am,” Patty Loveless (1995)
Epic
Romance ends not with a bang but a whimper on Patty Loveless’ strummy, somber torch song: a ring on the pillow, a key left in the door, and a Dear John note in the kitchen next to the grocery list.
Like other songs on this list, “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am” performed well on the country charts and earned multiple accolades including a Grammy nomination for songwriter Gretchen Peters. —L.G.
“You Were Mine,” The Chicks (1998)
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A devastated plea to an unfaithful man who’s moved on, leaving his stricken ex with their two small children and a faded photo album full of memories.
A crossover hit, the Chicks vaulted into the mainstream with “You Were Mine” and other hits from their 1998 album, Wide Open Spaces. —L.G.
“Does My Ring Burn Your Finger,” Lee Ann Womack (2000)
MCA Nashville
Love is a flat circle for Lee Ann Womack‘s woman scorned on this back porch burner — a world of pain where all the kisses were lies and the past is something “buried in a shallow grave.”
Not to be confused with Charley Pride’s 1967 classic “Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger,” Womack’s single was featured on her well-received 2000 album, I Hope You Dance. —L.G.
“Mama’s Broken Heart,” Miranda Lambert (2011)
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Mama says, “Go and fix your makeup, girl, it’s just a breakup/Run and hide your crazy and start actin’ like a lady.” Lambert’s fantastically brassy response (co-penned by Kacey Musgraves, no less)? “Bite me,” basically.
“Mama’s Broken Heart” peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, her best-performing single on the chart as a solo artist to date. —L.G.
“Got My Name Changed Back,” Pistol Annies (2018)
vevo
For country supergroup Pistol Annies (Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, and Angaleena Presley), shedding a husband’s last name isn’t a nuisance, but a triumphant reclamation of identity.
The self-empowering anthem set the tone for their fourth studio album, Interstate Gospel, which ranked as the No. 6 spot on EW’s best albums of 2018. And later, Rolling Stone dubbed “Got My Name Changed Back” as one of the 200 greatest country songs of all time. —James Mercadante
“Justified,” Kacey Musgraves (2021)
vevo
Moving on isn’t a one-way street, as the seven-time Grammy winner reveals — experiencing everything from bittersweet joy to burning rage following her split from fellow country artist Ruston Kelly.
As she accomplished in her song “Happy & Sad,” Kacey Musgraves captures the unpredictable, juxtaposing emotions of post-divorce life, further amplifying them in her “Justified” music video as she drives through various landscapes and seasons. —J.M.
“Leave Me Again,” Kelsea Ballerini (2023)
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Divorce doesn’t always need to end in flames. Sometimes, it’s about sending your ex genuine well wishes while making a vow to never abandon yourself in any relationship or situation moving forward.
Featured on her Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP, “Never Leave Me Again” draws from Kelsea Ballerini‘s divorce from Morgan Evans and was the song she chose to perform at the 2023 CMA Awards. —J.M.
“This Is How a Woman Leaves,” Marren Morris (2024)
Columbia
Walking away from something that isn’t entirely toxic can feel like swimming upstream, but Maren Morris leads by example — leaving her marriage with confidence and zero second-guessing.
During a September 2024 episode of Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, the Grammy winner opened up about releasing “This Is How a Woman Leaves,” initially worried people might misinterpret her intentions. “But at the end of the day, I can’t control people’s perceptions of the song that they’re hearing of mine,” she said. “With [‘This Is How a Woman Leaves’], I could just picture a healing that would happen live.” —J.M.
