• Kellie Pickler is mourning: Her husband was found dead at age 49.

• He saved her, abandoned by parents, but couldn’t save himself.

• He left a happy message the day before his death, but it was the last one.

Kellie Pickler was once an “American Idol” finalist who charmed the show’s judge, Simon Cowell, with her singing. The singer released her debut album, “Small Town Girl,” earning her a Country Music Association Award nomination in 2007.

In March 2017, the “American Idol” songstress shared a post that featured herself and her husband during happier times. The star explained that June 15 was one of the most memorable days in her life because it was her grandmother’s birthday and the day her husband proposed.

On that day in 2010, Jacobs took Pickler, who later struggled with depression, to Rosemary Beach, Florida, telling her it was just a vacation. However, they had a romantic dinner in the evening and took a stroll on the beach during sunset.

The musician didn’t know he’d buried a small wooden box in the sand, so when she found it, it looked like it had washed up from the sea. When Pickler opened it, she discovered a journal Jacobs had written for her, a seashell with “Faye” written on it, her grandmother’s name, and an engagement ring.

He got down to propose, and she screamed, “yes!” before they watched the sunset slowly. Ironically, Jacobs hadn’t realized that the day was Faye’s birthday, and it felt like the late grandmother was giving them her blessing.

In February 2011, Pickler recalled how she and Jacobs were almost finished planning their wedding, but when they got to the guest list, she realized that she hated half of the people on it!

So the couple dropped the whole thing, eloped to the Caribbean’s Antigua, and married at the beach on New Year’s Day. The songwriter’s wife only packed her wedding dress and an outfit for him for their special day, with Pickler adding:

“We totally just put faith in God that it was all going to work out, and it did, and it was the most incredible day of my life.”

Jacobs’s wedding ring was engraved with their wedding date, “1-1-11,” and the words, “Put it back on!” so that he saw the message whenever he took it off. Sadly, he wouldn’t wear the ring again now that he was unexpectedly gone.

Jacobs was found dead on February 17, 2023, at their Nashville, Tennesee home. The songwriter’s death at age 49 was suspected to be by suicide, with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) receiving a 911 call from the residence at 1:21 p.m. on that day.

The fire department found Jacobs dead from a gunshot wound in the upstairs office or bedroom. The singer woke up not long after the incident that the MNPD said they were investigating as an apparent suicide.

Pickler shared that she didn’t see her husband and went looking for him, but her personal assistant couldn’t open the door to the upstairs room and ended up calling 911. The Nashville Fire Department and the police found the songwriter “deceased” when they arrived at the location.

Sadly, a day before his death, Jacobs took to his Instagram account to share a career milestone. In his final post, Pickler’s husband celebrated the success of Lee Brice’s fifth studio album, “Hey World,” noting how it had gone platinum and thanking the people who made it possible.

The songwriter also shared how “deeply honored” he had been to be a “creative part” of the album. What was heartbreaking about Jacobs’s death was that he made his wife’s life worth living but failed to do the same for himself.

On November 7, 2007, Pickler was performing “I Wonder,” a song about an absent mother, and broke down. That’s when it became clear that the songstress struggled with depression caused by a dark family history.

When she was two, her mother left her in the care of her convicted felon father. However, he was erratic in his care, and she was raised mainly by her paternal grandparents and was reunited with her father when he was released from jail in 2006.

The star [Kellie Pickler] hadn’t seen how a relationship should be, and when her parents were in the same room, it was in a courthouse.

In July 2007, fourteen months later, Pickler’s father was sent to prison, and in the fall, she struggled with the breakup she experienced when her relationship with Jordin Tootoo concluded. Speaking about that time, the singer said:

“I was lonely and depressed. I fell off the face of the earth and buried myself in work.”

Even though the musician’s mother gave several interviews about why she left her daughter, the duo never contacted each other. Pickler confessed that she might’ve forgiven her if her mother had acknowledged that she hadn’t played her role well or just apologized.

The star explained how she wanted her mother in her life, to have her parents around to praise her when she got off the stage. However, she’d learned to accept the things she couldn’t change and knew she’d never have the relationship she wanted with her parents, and she had to grieve, allow the hurt, anger, and cry.

A few months after her breakdown, she met Jacobs, who wrote two songs on her new album with her. Pickler said she hadn’t known that someone like him existed, someone who made her feel good about being herself.

The star hadn’t seen how a relationship should be, and when her parents were in the same room, it was in a courthouse. When she struggled with issues and wanted Xanax, Jacob would encourage her to allow him to be her pill and comfort her, but he failed to save himself.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org.