Who Is Kacey Musgraves' Ex-Boyfriend? All About Cole Schafer

Kacey Musgraves and Cole Schafer have gone their separate ways.

After reportedly splitting in November 2023, Musgraves confirmed their break up in March 2024 during an interview with The Cut. "I don’t regret living and loving as hard as I do,” she told the outlet. “Whenever I’m in a relationship, I’m all f---ing in."

Schafer and the "High Horse" singer were first spotted together in June 2021 — about a year after Musgraves announced her divorce from Ruston Kelly.

During their years together, Musgraves and Schafer were very open about their romance, something the singer told Time was on purpose.

"I'm proud of the love that I have. I'm very happy," she said in March 2022. "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."

So, who is the Grammy-winning singer's ex-boyfriend? Keep reading to learn more about Cole Schafer.

He and Musgraves had a "meet-cute"

Musgraves and Schafer met when they happened to lock eyes in a crowded restaurant. The singer revealed that Schafer didn't know who she was when they first met, which made her like him even more.

"He did not know who I was, which I loved," she told the New York Times.

He's a writer

According to his website, Schafer works in advertising as a copywriter "by day" and moonlights as a poet "by night," under the alias January Black. He has written three books of poetry and prose: One Minute, Please?, After Her and Guillotine.

While Schafer doesn't regret his decision to be a writer, he admits to occasionally wrestling with it.

"I've written before that if I weren't a writer, I'd be a Formula 1 driver or a tattoo artist or an abstract painter or a denim maker or a barista or a florist or a mechanic or a real estate tycoon or a hedge fund owner or a Green Beret or a podcast host or a sushi chef or a master distiller or, hell, maybe even a sommelier," he wrote in June 2022 blog post. "I'm not any of these things, of course. I'm a writer. But, because I've chosen to be a writer, I've also chosen not to be everything else I've listed out up above. I think this is the pain that Jonathan Safran Foer was describing when he wrote, 'Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living.' "

He's based in Nashville

Schafer lives in Nashville, per his LinkedIn bio. Musgraves previously revealed on Instagram that Schafer is originally from southern Indiana.

He is a proud dog dad

Schafer occasionally posts photos of his dog, June, on Instagram. Alongside a photo of June as a puppy, he wrote, "Another picture of my s'mores-Klondike-panda-skunk who I adore (and who has also been a slight nightmare to raise and is causing me to rethink ever having children)."

He wrote poetry about Musgraves

In a June 2022 Instagram post, Schafer shared excerpts from his book, Guillotine, including at least one poem that appeared to be about Musgraves. The poem read: "There is a polaroid of her / on the dashboard of my '89 Range Rover; / a polaroid where she's bending the wind / with an oriental fan; / as she gazes over her left shoulder, / her eyes devouring something the camera cannot see."

In August 2021, Schafer posted a photo (since deleted) of a Polaroid of Musgraves holding a fan peering over her shoulder.

He supported Musgraves' career

Schafer loved honoring Musgraves' career wins. In February 2022, he posted a carousel of black-and-white photos on Instagram from backstage at Madison Square Garden, where Musgraves played a sold-out show on Feb. 7. He called the night "a big f—king deal, a bigger deal than I think her modesty will allow her to wrap her head around."

Schafer described Musgraves as "the most naturally gifted human" he's ever been around and admired her lack of visible nerves before performing, as well as her character as a person offstage.

"What impresses me most about her, is that she's the same human when she's talking to my mother, my father, my grandfather, my brothers or my best friend Jack, as she is when she's talking to an arena filled with 15,000 people (save for maybe the exploding fiery heart and a few of the other lovely theatrics)," he wrote. "So, all that to say, Kace didn't just sell out The Garden. She sold out The Garden in the same way she's built her entire career: by being completely and unapologetically herself. And, you know, that's really something."

He has hobbies outside his work as a writer

Though writing is his main passion, Musgraves documented Schafer engaging in a slew of other activities. On his 28th birthday, the singer penned touching tributes to Schafer on Instagram, complimenting him on his various attributes and skills, which include playing guitar and cooking well enough to "turn [Musgraves] on."

He and Musgraves founded a charity ball

In December 2021, Schafer and Musgraves hosted the inaugural Teddy Bear Ball in Nashville to raise money for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. The pair partnered with Build-A-Bear to donate funds and over 300 teddy bears to the hospital.

In honor of the second annual gala in 2022, Schafer discussed the inspiration behind the event in a Twitter thread, sharing that they were inspired by a dog named Squid who works as a service animal at the hospital and wanted to raise money to train a second dog.

Musgraves also shared photos from the gala on Instagram, including one sweet shot of her and Schafer posing with teddy bears at the event, where she performed alongside her frequent collaborator Daniel Tashian and his band The Silver Seas.