Little Big town's Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook make more than literal beautiful music together. Through the band's journey to stardom, the pair also found love.
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Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman met while attending Samford University in Alabama. They reconnected after moving to Nashville. Jimi Westbrook then joined, followed by Phillip Sweet, and country group Little Big Town was born.
At the time, Fairchild was married to someone else. It ended up not working out and after her divorce finalized, she and Westbrook took a chance.
"I think Jimi and I had a special friendship and connection that blossomed when we were both single," Fairchild told Us Weekly. "Sometimes you just have to cross that line and take a chance and when we had that opportunity we did. Of course, we didn't want to mess up the band, but we decided it was worth the risk."
"I think there was always something underlying there that we were trying to ignore," Westbrook told GAC. "Then when the opportunity came, when all of us ended up single at the same time ... those feelings, you were able to come out with them finally. It was like, 'We're single. Let's get together.'"
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Do Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook Have Children?
After getting married in 2006, the "Pontoon" singers welcomed a child, Elijah Dylan Westbrook, in 2010. The band continues to dish out hits including "Better Man," which won Best Performance by a Country Duo/Group at the 2018 Grammy Awards and "Girl Crush," which won 2015 Single of the Year at the CMA Awards.
"It is amazing," Fairchild said. "Jimi is my soulmate. I knew there was a deep connection there but once you decide to be together, you find even more, and then to have a child together is a beautiful, beautiful thing for us to share and a dream come true."
The couple is completely adorable on social media, where you can catch glimpses of Elijah and some snaps from a life shared on the road with other greats in country music.
Editor's Note: This article previously ran in October of 2020.
