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Little Big Town's Karen Fairchild & Jimi Westbrook Are Married IRL
Watch them in musical action during Little Big Town's Christmas at the Opry on NBC.
From bandmates to soulmates. Singers Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook of the four-person country group Little Big Town aren't just together on stage; they're also married in real life. Find out more about the couple, below.
Little Big Town is "one big marriage"
The band, which celebrates 25 years together this year and will be hosting Little Big Town's Christmas at the Opry in December on NBC, is "one big marriage," according to Fairchild.
Westbrook joked that the "wives" of the group control the "husbands," telling TODAY, "It is kind of like one big marriage — as long as [guitarist] Philip [Sweet] and I do what we're told, everything works fine." Singer Kimberly Schlapman rounds out the Grammy-winning quartet.
How Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook fell in love
After her 2002 divorce, Fairchild found herself single at the same time as Westbrook, and they couldn't deny their mutual attraction, even if they hadn't always seen eye-to-eye as bandmates.
“You should have seen the way they butted heads before they got together!" Sweet told People.
“We were like, ‘They need to just do it,’” he continued, adding, "[Kimberly and I] would look at each other, like ‘They like each other!’”
Schlapman agreed, telling the publication, “We knew they were in love before they knew they were in love."
RELATED: What the Clever Lyrics to Little Big Town's "The Good Lord Willing" Really Mean
Fairchild remembers things slightly differently, telling Us, "I think Jimi and I had a special friendship and connection that blossomed when we were both single. Sometimes you just have to cross that line and take a chance, and when we had that opportunity, we did. Of course we didn't want to mess up the band, but we decided it was worth the risk."
The pair married in 2006 and on March 5, 2010, they welcomed their son, Elijah Dylan Westbrook. Fairchild told Us, "Jimi is my soulmate. I knew there was a deep connection there, but once you decide to be together, you find even more, and then to have a child together is a beautiful, beautiful thing for us to share and a dream come true."
In addition to a son and a career, the pair share two dogs.
Watch Little Big Town's Christmas at the Opry December 16 on NBC
Little Big Town's Christmas at the Opry airs December 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Following its broadcast, the special will be available for streaming on Peacock the next day.
RELATED: What to Know About Little Big Town's Christmas at the Opry
In addition to the country supergroup, acts taking the stage include former The Voice co-Coaches Dan + Shay, Season 27 Voice Coach Kelsea Ballerini, and stars Sheryl Crow, Kirk Franklin, Josh Groban, Kate Hudson and Orville Peck.
