Yellowstone star and singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham is changing his name amid his divorce from his wife of 12 years, Anna Axster. According to reports from The Blast, Bingham is changing his name from Ryan Axster Bingham back to his birth name of George Ryan Bingham.
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The Blast reports that Bingham legally took the name Axster, the maiden name of wife Anna, when the couple wed in 2009.
According to the petition, Bingham stated his official reasoning for the name change as "I would like to go back to using my birth name."
Bingham filed for divorce in June of 2021. The couple share three children, who all share the middle name Axster.
Anna Axster is a director, writer and producer known for her film A Country Called Home.
As for Bingham, he'll return to the Dutton ranch for season five of the hit series Yellowstone when it premieres on Nov. 13. The singer turned actor plays Walker, the ranch hand who fills the bunkhouse with music.
Bingham says he landed the role through a chance encounter with series creator Taylor Sheridan, who was impressed with his cowboy past.
"I met the writer, Taylor Sheridan, when he was working on the project. He initially contacted me about working on the project and maybe just writing some songs for the show. Once we met and started hanging out, he found out I grew up riding horses -- my family ranched out in New Mexico -- so I grew up doing a lot of that kind of cowboy stuff," Bingham told Wide Open Country in 2019. "So he said 'Well, I oughta just write you a part in the show.' He said 'I'll just write something small' [and said] 'If you do good, I'll keep you in there and if you suck we'll just kill you off. [Laughs] I'm still in there so far. We'll see how it goes."
Bingham, who won an Academy Award for his song "The Weary Kind," featured in the 2009 film Crazy Heart, will take the stage at the 2023 Stagecoach Festival in Indio, California alongside fellow Yellowstone stars Lainey Wilson and Luke Grimes.
