Kacey Musgraves Says She Feels 'Really Lucky' That Boyfriend Cole Schafer Is 'So Secure'

The "Breadwinner" singer said her beau is "a champion of me reaching for every star possible"

Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Musgraves and Cole Schafer. Photo: Kacey Musgraves/instagram

Kacey Musgraves is singing the praises of boyfriend Cole Schafer.

The "Justified" singer opened up about her relationship with Schafer, a writer, in a new interview with Time, where she was honored as one of their 2022 Women of the Year.

Musgraves, 33, discussed the lyrics of her song "Breadwinner," and explained that the words certainly don't reflect her bond with Schafer, 28, with whom she's been linked since June.

"I'm not the only one who's experienced that, and I'm not going to be the last," she said of singing about a relationship in which the man cannot handle the woman's success. "It always makes it easier to put vulnerable thoughts out there when you know they're going to be met with connection."

Still, the singer — who recently wrapped her Star-Crossed Tour — said things with Schafer feel different.

"I feel really lucky to be with someone who is so secure and is a champion of me reaching for every star possible," she said. "It's a really beautiful thing for a man to be able to support a woman in that way and not take it personally."

Kacey Musgraves for TIME Women of the Year 2022
Kacey Musgraves. Daria Kobayashi Ritch for TIME

Musgraves confirmed their relationship in August, telling The New York Times that they met after locking eyes in a crowded restaurant, and that he did not know who she was at the time, which she "loved."

Despite going through a very public divorce from ex-husband Ruston Kelly in 2020, the Grammy winner said she has no plans to keep her private life out of the public eye.

RELATED VIDEO: Kacey Musgraves Recalls Being 'Disappointed' By Dating Post-Divorce: 'It Was Just Shocking'

"I don't really want to keep things private, because I'm proud of the love that I have," she told Time. "I'm very happy. It's natural to want to share that. And I don't want to come across like a robot — I think people like me because I share who I am."

Still, she acknowledged that being a public figure means people are going to offer their two cents, whether she'd like them to or not.

"You also have to remember that you are under a magnifying glass, and it can get picked apart," she said. "You're going to hear from the trolls. I'd be lying if I said it didn't affect me. People forget that there are real feelings there. But it also makes me feel sorry for people — I can't imagine being so miserable that I have to spread that negativity."

Kacey Musgraves
Cole Schafer and Kacey Musgraves. Kacey Musgraves/instagram

Musgraves celebrated Schafer's birthday with a public post in January that described him as "zen in the middle of the chaos."

"I thank my stars every day that you exist and that I get to be loved by a man like you," she wrote. "Cheers to this year being even more gorgeous than the last."

Meanwhile, she told Time that she's already started thinking about what her next musical era will entail.

"I have a couple notions of where it might go musically, but I haven't had the time to completely explore that yet," she said. "I do feel like I have a more forward-facing, positive outlook right now than looking backward, reflecting and chewing on those emotions."

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