Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins have, by any measure, a successful marriage, but their relationship hasn’t always been easy. The couple, who will celebrate 12 years of marriage in October, weathered a series of storms several years ago, enough that could have made even the most successful relationship crumble. Fortunately, both Rhett and Akins fought through the hard times, and emerged better than ever.
“We were becoming famous at arguably the hardest moment in our personal lives,” Rhett recalls to Us Weekly. “Adopting [Willa Gray] and getting pregnant at the same time while having to be in Uganda for a year with me traveling back and forth was so challenging. I’d go to Uganda and be husband and dad, and then go to America and be like, ‘Okay, shows and music.’ I was internally imploding, and so was Lauren. We’d both come to these breaking points [feeling like] something has to give. It was not a fun time in our marriage.”
That season in their lives was challenging, but they were both committed to making their marriage work, even if it wasn’t easy.
“Giving up was not an option,” Rhett says. “That thought has never crossed my mind or Lauren’s. With me being a fixer and Lauren being stubborn, we made it work. The easiest thing to do is quit. But when you don’t and you keep grinding it out, you’ll inevitably become stronger.”
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Rhett and Akins are now the proud parents of four girls. Rhett’s favorite role is being a dad, which makes his other job sometimes hard to do, when he hits the road on the weekends.
“No parent wants to hear, ‘Why do you have to leave?'” Rhett acknowledges. “I had to learn how to retool my answer, so instead of saying, ‘I know, baby, I really don’t want to go,’ I say, ‘I don’t have to leave. I get to because I have the privilege of doing something I love for my job.’ I want them to know it’s possible to do something you love for a living.”
Rhett’s seventh studio album, About A Woman, will be out on August 23. The entire project is in tribute to Akins, who her adoring husband says is worth celebrating.
“She’s one of the most interesting and smartest people I know,” Rhett boasts. “She graduated from [the University of] Tennessee with a nursing degree. She was always at the top of our class. In high school, she tutored me in math. She’s genuinely the most authentic person I’ve ever met.”
Akins also recently opened up about the hard times in their marriage, in the I Am Second video series.
“I began touring with my husband, and I was running myself ragged, just chasing him all over the place, trying to make it feel like it used to,” Akins remembers. “His life went on, and I felt like mine stopped. I felt like we weren’t doing it together anymore. There was a lot of miscommunication, there was a lot of resentment I was holding onto, I think even through the adoption and after. I just hit a breaking point where I didn’t like him, and I resented him.”
Things came to a terrifying head one day, which ultimately became the catalyst for the couple to get the help that they needed.
“I remember looking at him in the closet, after we had just screamed at each other,” Akins recalls. “I said, ‘I hate you. I hate you, and I feel alone, and I feel lost, and I hate your career, and I hate the pressure that it puts on us, and I hate that we brought two little girls in this.’ I just dropped a bomb on him. He’s like, ‘Do you want me to quit? What do you want me to do? Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.’
“I remember thinking, ‘Goodness, I’m not trying to get you to quit your job,” she continues. “I’m not trying to get you to pull away from what you love and what you’re good at, and where I feel like the Lord has you, but I’ve got to figure whatever this is out, because it’s not working.’”
Rhett has a Top 20 single with “Beautiful As You,” the debut single from About A Woman. Find all of Rhett’s music and upcoming shows at ThomasRhett.com.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the CMA