Sam Hunt and Hannah Lee Fowler – A Timeline

The relationship between country singer Sam Hunt and Hannah Lee Fowler is again coming to an end, with Fowler filing for divorce after five years of marriage. The couple tied the knot in 2017, but have been together for more than a decade, weathering many ups and downs together. While they have kept their romance mostly out of the spotlight, Hunt has given a few glimpses into their relationship through interviews and his songs. 

Take a look back at their relationship timeline ahead.

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2005-2007: Hunt plays football for the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 2005 to 2007, nearby to Montevallo where Fowler lived, which is likely how they crossed paths. 

After practice every day, Hunt teaches himself how to play acoustic guitar (He had been writing songs since he was 18). And, with the encouragement of his college roommates, he starts booking shows at bars, marking the start of his pursuit of a career in music.

Hunt told ET, "[Fowler and I] dated well before I had any music out... I barely knew any chords on the guitar and just had no idea what I was doing. Part of it is because she doesn't put me on a pedestal. That trait, whatever that is, her ability to see through the thing... endears me to her."

2008: Hunt and Fowler start dating. Meanwhile, two months after failing to impress the Kansas City Chiefs, to the surprise of his family and friends, Hunt leaves the sport to pursue a music career, and moves to Nashville along with a friend.

2008-2014: Hunt and Fowler date on-and-off again for a few years. Hunt begins his career writing singles for artists like Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Billy Currington and Reba McEntire, before singing a recording contract with MCA Nashville in 2014 and releasing the EP X2C.

He told BuzzFeed News, "I didn't know you could write songs for a living. Then I realized there were lots of publishers in Nashville and these publishers were partnered with songwriters and a lot of the songs that I'd heard on country radio over the years were written by all these guys. That community of people who are churning out lots of country songs that you're hearing on the radio is not large, numbers-wise."

He also revealed that Fowler was the inspiration behind Urban’s Cop Car.

He added, [The experience] "happened when I was just getting out of college and sneaking into the little airport there, and getting away with it a few times. [Luckily] we didn't actually go to jail, just got run off, but they made it very clear that we were not supposed to be there, and not to come back."

October 2014: Hunt’s first single, Leave The Light On goes to number one on the Country Airplay chart and earns him two CMT Music Awards. Later that same month, he releases his debut album, Montevallo, named after Fowler’s hometown in Alabama.

He told E! News, "I didn't actually live in that town. I had never visited Montevallo, but right before I left to go to Nashville, I met a girl from there. A lot of the experiences I had with her and the relationship I had with her, that inspired a lot of the songwriting on the album."

February 2015: Montevallo is nominated for ‘Best Country Album’ at the 58th Grammy Awards. The album, which peaked at #4 on the ARIA Country Albums chart, features the singles Leave The Light On, Take Your Time, House Party, Break Up In A Small Town and Miss Your Miss Me.

2016: Hunt and Fowler get back together. In fact, Hunt tried to win back the nurse by writing several love songs about her and hopping on seven flights.

He shared with ET, “I think last summer I went out [to Hawaii] about seven times in about three months. Trying to talk to her about coming back. And the seventh trip I convinced her.”

January 2017: Hunt pops the question by the Sea of Galilee in Israel, amid an argument with Fowler.

While on The Bobby Bones Show, he said, "Something came up that irritated her, and I realised this may mess up my big plan to ask her to marry me that night, and it kind of agitated me more about this issue. It turned into this kind of fight that, fortunately, led to the perfect opportunity to ask her to marry me. So, this little altercation we had actually worked out. It was a special moment."

February 2017: Hunt releases Body Like A Back Road, which goes on to becomes his biggest hit. He debuts another song, the confessional Drinkin’ Too Much, which details the highs and lows of his on-and-off romance with Fowler.

April 2017: At the 2017 ACM Awards, Hunt and Fowler make their first appearance as a couple on the red carpet. He later serenades Fowler during his performance of Body Like A Backroad.

.@SamHuntMusic and his fiancé are just THE cutest! 😍 #ACMs #BodyLikeABackroad pic.twitter.com/7PZZuwPDtB

— CMT (@CMT) April 3, 2017

April 2017: The couple wed in an intimate ceremony in his native Cedartown, Georgia.

Hunt said, “Hannah was happy, and that was my number one priority, so it worked out. My family was there. I got to spend time with people I haven't gotten to see in a while and celebrate a special time in my life and in my wife's life, and our families lives, so it was a really, a really great moment.”

May 2017: The newly-weds made their first red carpet appearance as a married couple as they attended the Billboard Music Awards.

While on the red carpet, Hunt told E! News, "It feels great." He added that "there's a spiritual strength" to wearing his wedding band, noting, "I feel a little bit taller now that I'm wearing it." 

July 2018: After more than a year of marriage, Hunt tells Entertainment Tonight that having children is certainly in his future, adding that he isn’t responsible enough to handle a baby just yet.

He shared, "I don't know that I'm as responsible as an adult as my parents were. So, I'm afraid of taking them on too quickly. I have some growing to do, so we'll see. I'm going to stretch it out."

November 2019: Hunt is arrested for drunk driving in Nashville. Police say he had trouble pulling out his driver’s license mistakenly giving them a credit card and his passport. He also failed a sobriety test with a blood alcohol level of .173, more than twice the legal limit.

A day after his arrest, Hunt issues a statement, saying in part, “I decided to drive myself home after drinking at a friend’s show in downtown Nashville. It was a poor and selfish decision and I apologise to everyone who was unknowingly put at risk and let down by it. It won’t happen again.”

July 2021: Hunt reveals to Audacy’s TC & Dina that he and Fowler are trying for a baby.

He said, “We’ve really started thinking about it seriously here these past few months, so that’s on the agenda right now, and I’m hoping that we’ll have some good news sooner than later."

August 2021: Hunt pleads guilty to two misdemeanour DUI charges and is sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in Jail, but all but 48 hours of the term was deferred, and he was to serve the remaining time in the DUI Education Centers, an alternative facility, rather than in prison.

He was also required to complete an alcohol safety course and pay $1,599 in fees and install an interlock device in is car after having his license suspended for a year.

February 18, 2022: Fowler files for divorce, accusing the singer of adultery and “cruel and inhuman treatment.” Court documents also reveal that Fowler is pregnant with the couple's first child, and due to give birth in May. Her legal documents request primary custody of the unborn child, as well as alimony and child support.

Hours later, Fowler pulls back on the suit, withdrawing her divorce complaint but petitioning that her suit be "voluntarily non-suited without prejudice," which means she would be able to sue for divorce again in the future.

February 23, 2022: Fowler refiles the divorce case in a nearby county in the Nashville area – after her lawyers having apparently filed the legal documents in the wrong county.

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Keep up to date with Sam Hunt on his Facebook page here.

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