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Robert Reynolds, Trisha Yearwood’s ex-husband, was a bassist and vocalist for The Mavericks until he was fired due to a battle with addiction.
Reynolds and Yearwood were married for five years from 1994 to 1999. Toward the end of 1999, they announced they were filing for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences,” according to an Associated Press article from the time. Reynolds was a founding member of country group, The Mavericks. However, he became addicted to opiates and his band members removed him from the group in 2014.
The following year, Reynolds wife, Angie Crabtree Reynolds, died after a battle with cancer in May 2015.
Since then, Reynolds has lived a quiet life, but recently started producing music again. He released an EP in 2017. He now lives with his partner, Michelle, in rural Indiana. The two sell art on Etsy.
Yearwood and her current husband, Garth Brooks, will be performing live on CBS from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 1 for “Garth & Trisha Live.” The iconic duo will be performing from their home studio to entertain Americans who are staying home to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Robert Reynolds & Trisha Yearwood Were Married in 1994 in a Historic Nashville Auditorium
Robert Reynolds and Trisha Yearwood were married in 1994 on the stage of Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. The concert hall is the former home of the Grand Ole Opry country show.
The couple was married for five years, and lived on an 18-acre lot in Hendersonville, Tennessee. They spoke to PEOPLE in 1996 about their lives together.
“We don’t have a manicured lawn,” Yearwood told PEOPLE in 1996. “It’s 18 acres, our little paradise, and we like keeping it simple.”
The couple recalled a romantic rendezvous that served as a needed break from their hectic touring schedules. At the time, they only had about five days each month home together, so Reynolds packed only a backpack and booked a flight to visit Yearwood during her tour in Europe, he told the magazine.
“I took planes, trains and automobiles to find her in Ireland,” he said. “It was very romantic.”
The magazine wrote that their marriage wasn’t “all biscuits and gravy” and that Yearwood described herself as a “control freak.”
“Yearwood, a confessed ‘control freak,’ admits she had problems getting used to the 4,500-square-foot, stone-and-log house she and Reynolds bought in 1994,” PEOPLE wrote. “It wasn’t the house itself that troubled her, she says, but that the previous owner had insisted the place be sold with all its furnishings, including a life-size oil portrait of silent movie star Mary Pickford, two giant cast-iron chandeliers and a Rembrandt copy. ‘I didn’t want a house full of stuff that’s not mine,’ says Yearwood.
They added some of their own personal touches, including posters and photos of Elvis, Buddy Holly and Janis Joplin. Reynolds told PEOPLE he had “no organizational skills” and preferred wandering in the woods nearby to decorating.
“We balance each other,” Yearwood told PEOPLE. Reynolds added, “We’re compatible because of our differences.”
2. Trisha Yearwood Said in 1996 she Thought her Marriage to Reynolds Would Last But Divorced in 1999
Garth Brooks’ daughter had hilarious response when he wed Trisha Yearwood
Robert Reynolds was not Trisha Yearwood’s first husband. Her first husband was Chris Latham, who she married in 1987 and divorced in 1991. She told PEOPLE in 1996 her marriage suffered as her musical career accelerated.
“While Yearwood’s career took off, her personal life suffered,” PEOPLE reported. “In 1991 she divorced her husband of four years, Chris Latham, a Belmont classmate. Yearwood admits her ambitions put pressure on their marriage. She doesn’t expect the same thing to happen with Reynolds, whom she met in 1991 at a country-music radio conference in Nashville and wed three years later. ‘This is the first time I’ve been in a relationship where I’ve felt the freedom to be career-driven,’ she says.”
The couple announced in October 1999 they were filing for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences,” according to an Associated Press article from the time.
After the divorce, tabloids said the reason for the divorce was Garth Brooks, who she began dating in 2002. Yearwood and Garth Brooks were engaged in 2005 and married December 13, 2005.
3. Robert Reynolds Was the Oldest of Seven Children & Spoke of a Difficult Childhood
My new friend Robert Reynolds (the Mavericks)! http://t.co/p38JLYVX
Robert Reynolds came from a big family. He was the oldest of seven children. Reynolds was born and raised near Miami, Florida. His father, Robert Sr., was a clothing manufacturer. His mother’s name was Jana. His parents divorced, and Reynolds began spending much of his time playing in bands, according to a 1996 article from PEOPLE.
He joined the Miami club circuit and helped to form the Mavericks in 1990. In 1991, the group signed with MCA Records.
Reynolds hinted at a difficult childhood during a 2018 interview with Entertainment or Die.
“I feel built to survive, but at the same time this addiction challenged even that,” he said. “My optimism comes from my faith, my belief that this has some greater meaning. If you knew what I survived in my childhood, years before the Mavericks, you’d know that in the long arc of my life I’ve developed this positivity–partly as a survival tool, but partly because I am living proof that the pendulum swings equally right to left and back again.”
4. Robert Reynolds Was Fired from The Mavericks for Opiate Addiction & his Wife, Angie, Died of Cancer
LifeNotes: Angie Crabtree Reynolds http://t.co/A6Hj9u6wjF http://t.co/qgiMDAWPZ8
In 2014, Robert Reynolds was fired from the band he helped form due to his battle with opioid addiction. The Mavericks singer Raul Malo, drummer Paul Deakin and guitarist Eddie Perez told Rolling Stone Country their founding member became unable to tour or record music. Reynolds was a bassist and vocalist for the group.
“I knew about it from before the band got back together. There were many signs when he first came back into the studio. I confronted him about it, and he denied,” Deakin told the publication. “When he finally admitted it, I said, ‘I’m not going to sign these [record] contracts until you go into rehab.’ On three separate occasions we put him in different forms of rehab over the past three years.”
The band announced in October 2013 that Reynolds was taking time off to attend to personal matters. Shortly thereafter, they set up a fund for his wife’s cancer treatment, and fans thought the two messages were connected. The band members determined it was important to clarify the reasons as they saw the need to make a permanent change.
“We found out he was hitting fans up for money,” Malo told Rolling Stone Country. “It’s like, man, what if he hits somebody up for five grand, and then they go, ‘Why didn’t you guys tell us anything?’ And now we put this fan in harm’s way and they’re out five grand because we didn’t have the balls to say anything about it.”
About one year later, on May 24, 2015, Reynolds wife, Angie Crabtree Reynolds, died of cancer. She had worked in creative services for the Country Music Awards and then worked as Interactive Marketing Manager for the Grand Ole Opry from 2002 to 2011, according to her obituary. She had a previous battle with cancer 12 years earlier. She died at age 44.
Reynolds spoke of his battle with addiction and his recovery with Entertainment or Die in 2018.
He said:
Between 2007 and 2014 I was progressively self-medicating all of my hurts,” he said. “I had a longing to be that group of guys with a singular vision, as we were when we came together back in the early days. That’s not realistic, I know, but it’s my nature to hold on to the past. So between 2007 and my departure in 2014, so much had happened to the foundation of my life, and I began to self-medicate. It was gradual but it was no less destructive. I don’t want to be afraid to share my faith with you and yet it’s very personal, of course. I’ve always felt a sense of something greater at work in my life, in the world all around us. At times I felt like I could see my life before it happened and all of this seems to be of greater meaning. So who do I have in my life? Who has been helpful to me? The list is long but let me mention Michelle, of course. She has stood beside me on the darkest nights, and I mean dark, dark nights. I have my faith–I, of course, mean God, and He has provided abundant support. Thousands of people around the world have played a role in encouraging me on to health. I have an incredible therapist, and a great medical team. I owe them so much.
5. Robert Reynolds Is Now a Solo Musician & Sells Art on Etsy With his Partner, Michelle
Sending healing prayers for Robert Reynolds (former Mavericks band member)
Robert Reynolds has largely stayed out of the spotlight since he was fired from The Mavericks for opioid addiction in 2014. Recently, he has released EPs as a solo artist, including Good Night Rock & Roll in 2017. The EP credits him as the producer, lead vocalist and guitarist.
Reynolds has also found a new love with his partner, Michelle, according to Entertainment or Die. Reynolds spoke to the publication in 2018. He and Michelle were living together in rural Indiana.
The couple also produces art together, which they sell on Etsy through their shop, PainterandPaperDoll. The couple joined Etsy in 2015. On December 2, 2019, Reynolds had two items for sale. The first was an acrylic floral painting for $20, and the second was a Paul McCartney painting called “Out of This World.” It was on sale for $120.
“This is one of my favorite Beatle(sic) pieces I’ve done to date,” the description said. “It’s based on the Richard Avedon photo of McCartney in the famed Mercury astronaut suit. I used a real wood panel for my canvas and stained it when finished for a retro ‘mid century modernist’ look, and floated the main canvas over a base canvas in painted deep space blue, and finally framed in a rock and roll clean black finish. I really dig the painting and think any Beatle fan will too!”
The couple also sells terrariums, keepsakes and other artwork.
“This shop is a combination of fine art and paper arts,” the shop’s description says. “The Painter, Robert Reynolds, founding member of the Grammy Award winning band, The Mavericks, is a self taught painter, who specializes in portraits, but also does landscapes and still life paintings. The Paper Doll, Michelle, creates hand bound journals, notebooks, cards and various other paper goods. Together they are The Painter and the Paper Doll.”