Patrick Carney of the Black Keys and Michelle Branch.Photo: Jeff Kravitz/Getty
While gearing up for the release of her new albumThe Trouble with Fever,Michelle Branch’s marriage to theBlack Keys musician Patrick Carneycame into question.
Last month, Branch posted — then deleted — a tweet accusing Carney of cheating on tour while she was home with their 7-month-old daughter Willie. After sharing the post, the singer-songwriter, 39, was arrested on asince-dismissed domestic assault chargefor allegedly slapping Carney, 42. She filed for divorce days later and wrote in a statement at the time, “With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”
“I definitely shouldn’t have taken to Twitter to say anything. Here I am saying, ‘Please respect our privacy,’ but I’m the one who said it to the world,” Branch tells PEOPLE, over Zoom from her Nashville home, in this week’s issue.
While she may have regrets, Branch has long been known for wearing her vulnerability on her sleeve. One month after the dramatic episode, though, she’s honest but careful when addressing the situation. “I have to be respectful of the fact that I’m not the only person involved in this. We have very small children,” says Branch, who also has a 4-year-old son, Rhys, with Carney, and a 17-year-old child, Owen (who uses they/them pronouns), with her ex-husbandTeddy Landau. “I’ve promised Patrick I won’t speak about it publicly.”
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Recorded in their home studio over the pandemic, Branch’s latest body of work features passionate love songs about Carney (“Beating on the Outside”) written prior to recent events.The Trouble with Feveralso includes lyrics on tracks like “Not My Lover” and “I’m Sorry” that nod toward relationship turbulence and infidelity, written over the past decade, drawing from friends' experiences and artistic ideas — not Branch’s own life. Still, the irony isn’t lost on her. “It’s bizarre that this has all happened in my life as I’m releasing this record that has some of those themes to it,” says Branch.
After splitting from Landau in 2014 following 10 years of marriage, Branch met Carney at a party in 2015. They began dating while working on her 2017 albumHopeless Romanticand tied the knot in 2019, a year after welcoming Rhys. (Carney was previously married to writer Denise Grollmus and designer Emily Ward.) She’s still uncertain about her future with Carney, but Branch is leaning into music to heal.
Initially unsure how to proceed with her album’s release, she sought advice from her close friendKacey Musgraves, who endured her own public divorce in 2020. The country star encouraged Branch to keep busy. “I feel like it’s going to be exactly what my heart needs right now,” says Branch of her upcoming shows. “It will be very, very cathartic. I don’t know what I would be doing if I didn’t have that distraction.”
Michelle Branch.courtesy Michelle Branch
In her lowest moments, Branch finds strength in therapy. “I can’t speak more highly about reaching out to somebody if you need to,” she says. “That — and my girlfriends — have helped me immensely.”
However, Branch doesn’t condone any hateful messages sent toward Carney, who’s remained quiet online as everything’s unfolded. “I don’t want him to be judged too harshly. We’re all human, and we all f— up. We all make mistakes,” she says. “I have nothing but love for him.”
For more from Michelle Branch, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
source: people.com
