Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty
Kimberly Perry is addressing her divorce for the first time.
The Grammy-nominated singer — whofiled for divorcefrom former MLB player J.P. Arencibia, 33, last year — alludes to infidelity onThe Band Perry’s new single “The Good Life,” which dropped on Friday, Perry’s 36th birthday.
A representative on behalf of Arencibia responded to the song and infidelity claims, telling PEOPLE in an exclusive statement: “While matters of our relationship and what led to the demise of our marriage should remain between us, I will say there was no infidelity. It’s a shame that all of this is now being made up to promote an album; I have moved on and hopefully one day she can as well.”
Thursday night, before “The Good Life” dropped, Perry shared a note on Instagram about the song.
“THE GOOD LIFE is a story about the infidelity I experienced. I want you to know that this song was written during a toxic and incredibly difficult time in my life, but I’m singing it to you now with the voice of a woman who has completely regained a strong sense of self, rebuilt her womanhood, and is grateful to have learned so much,” Perry wrote on Instagram.
Arencibia himself responded to the song in a since-deleted Instagram post on Friday. On the social media platform, the former athlete shared text messages and direct messages he shared with friends, as well as women he allegedly cheated with.
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“It’s sad that at 36 years of age today, a person would try to revive a dying career with click bait. Well, here’s just a little taste of reality to a woman and family that are not in touch with it,” Arencibia captioned the carousel of screenshots, adding: “Truly wish the best to their career and her life but trying to use a subject to garner traction is disappointing. Good luck in your free fall. PS Yes after she left me I dated other women.”
Perry and Arencibia began dating in 2012, hepopped the questionin 2013, andthey wedin 2014; PEOPLE exclusively confirmed the singer-songwriter hadfiled for divorcein March of 2018.
Perry began writing “The Good Life” last July with her brothers and bandmates, Reid, 30, and Neil, 28. The track is the first off an upcoming project. And, like their 2018 EPCoordinates, the single and its grimy synths distance the trio from the twangy Nashville fare they rose to fame with thanks to the 2010 hit “If I Die Young.”
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Perry said sharing her side of the story through music has been therapeutic.
Michael Loccisano/Getty
“Even though it references infidelity, it’s almost not even as much about the crime — if you will — as what you learn from it and what comes out on the other side of that. For me it was about regaining my sense of self because that had been challenged and broken down in the relationship that I was in,” she says of channeling her pain into music.
Perry adds: “It’s as much about self-worth and finding the empowerment inside yourself, but also the people around you — the friends and family who are there, who have your back and who you’re leaning on to help you navigate out of the toxic situation and out of a toxic relationship.”
The singer-songwriter reveals she spent the past year working on herself after enduring heartache from her split.
“It was just about getting out of a relationship that had really begun to affect me emotionally and psychologically. Then most of the past year has been spent looking inside myself and growing from a moment that just felt so devastating and bewildering,” Perry says. “I was like, ‘I’m a planner.’ I had all these plans — where I want to live, how many kids I want to have — and all the sudden it was like, ‘Okay all of your plans are just nonexistent.'”
Reid Perry, Kimberly Perry & Neil Perry.
Perry says she sought counseling (“I had an excellent therapist”) and leaned on friends and family, including her brothers, to get to the healthy place she’s in today.
“We can lose a lot of time hoping that things had gone a different way or hoping somebody will love us in a way that we want them to. And sometimes, we just have to let go and keep walking forward, find a new plan, find a new path,” she adds.
Now, Perry — who splits time with her brothers between L.A. and their home in East Tennessee — is focused on herself and her reclaimed independence as they work on new music.
source: people.com
