“This is about the best place I can imagine in the world to be, at this point,” Morgan Evans says in the fifth episode of the Over For You docuseries released on Feb. 28. In the five-part series, Morgan, 37, details his 2022 musical journey, as well as the fallout of his failed marriage with Kelsea Ballerini. In the fifth episode, Morgan says he “feels pretty good, considering everything,” but he still has “a long way to go. But I’m a long way from where I was three weeks ago.”
Kelsea, 39, seemingly addressed the split in her album, Subject to Change, which was released a month after she announced the end of her marriage via her Instagram Story. Shortly after that, Morgan performed “Over For You,” his own song about the breakup, at the CMC Rocks QLD Festival in Melbourne. A live version of the song was released on streaming platforms before a studio version was shared with the world. In the first episode of the Over For You docuseries (“The Return”), Morgan plays the song for the first time and talks about the emotion he put into the track.
“[‘Over For You’] is just like, the most personal thing I’ve ever written and the most personal thing I’ve ever shared. And it feels – it scared the sh** out of me,” he said. After playing the song for the first time, Morgan added that he felt like “a weight [was] off my chest. I felt like I told it in the most honest, real, and most positive way possible. It’s the only song I’ve written since going through this [divorce]. It felt like channeling all that awfulness into something positive.”
He also said that he was a bit hesitant to release the song as a single because he didn’t know “what the right thing to do is, because it’s the most authentic thing I’ve ever communicated through music, and I don’t want to tarnish it by however we share it.”
The country world was shocked in August 2022 when Kelsea, 29, announced on her Instagram Story that she and Morgan had split after five years of marriage. “This is now public record, so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce,” she wrote. “This deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth and effort that has ultimately come to an end.”
Kelsea cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split in the divorce docs, and soon after her announcement, Morgan confirmed the breakup. “Kelsea and I are parting ways. I wish it were otherwise but sadly it is not,” he wrote.
In February 2023, Kelsea dropped the Rolling Up The Welcome Mat EP, containing songs about the breakup – including “Mountain With A View,” which features a direct response to “Over For You.” She would later say in an interview that her not wanting to have kids – and him not wanting to be an “old dad” – was one of the reasons behind the breakup.
In the final installment of the Over For You docuseries, Morgan said that he’s learned that there is “potential in moments” and that he should be more present instead of focusing on the next thing. “It’s the start of whatever comes next,” he said while gazing out at the sun in Queensland, Australia. Morgan said that while he “dreaded” returning to the United States, the sojourn back to Australia allowed him to recharge and get “in as good as of a spot as I could be” to tackle any drama waiting for him back in Nashville.