Zac Brown has a bright future! The country star, 44, is engaged to model and actress Kelly Yazdi, 31, and has been earlier this year, PEOPLE confirmed on Thursday, December 8. According to the outlet, it was a romantic moment, carried out in the tropical locale of Hawaii. “He proposed in Hawaii a while ago,” an insider told the publication. “It was very intimate and the couple has kept it very private.”
It doesn’t come as a complete shock to certain eagle-eyed fans, however. In a July 31 Instagram video posted to the Zac Brown Band’s account, Kelly could be seen adding her left hand — with a diamond engagement ring — to a group huddle as they sang “Happy Birthday” to the beaming musician before a show.
The Ride Wild founder is a self-described “born adventurer, events producer, SAG-AFTRA actress, stuntwoman, and professional model,” per her personal website. As an actress, she’s been seen in the documentary Herb Ritts: L.A. Style and series including Hawaii Five-O.
The beloved country icon’s engagement comes four years after he split from ex-wife Shelly, 38, with whom he shares five children — a son, Alexander, 8, and daughters Joni, 11, Georgia, 12, Lucy, 14, and Justice, 15. The Zac Brown Band front man and Shelly were married for twelve years, with the union ending in 2018.
“We feel blessed to be on such an incredible journey in life and sometimes the journey begins to lead in different directions,” the former longtime couple said in a joint statement to People in October of 2018. “It is with deep love and respect that we announce we are separating as a couple. We have led a whirlwind life together growing into a beautiful family with five amazing children and while life will be rearranging a bit, our love and commitment to our family will always be there,” they continued.
“This was a difficult decision, but we’ve done plenty of tough things together and this is our next venture — love, mutual respect, and care for each other are what we are moving forward with. Family comes in all different forms,” they wrote. “We would like to ask that rather than commenting or spending any energy towards this, that you take this moment to send love to your family, in honor of ours.”
Just two years earlier in 2016, Zac and Shelly endured an unfortunate incident that saw Zac involved in a drug raid at a Four Seasons Hotel in Florida. According to TMZ at the time, there were also three strippers present during the raid, though Zac wasn’t one of the four people arrested in the incident.