Pearce, Ray split after 8 months of marriage

"This was a hard decision. It wasn't something she wanted to have to do," a source close to Pearce told PEOPLE. "This hasn't been a quarantine realization - it was a last resort."

Ray, 32, and Pearce, 30, were last in public together on June 6 at the Grand Ole Opry, playing without a live crowd.

Ray had told PEOPLE prior to the Opry gig that the couple split their time in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic between their Nashville and family homes.

Ray and Pearce got married on Oct. 6, 2019, on a Nashville-area farm. Pearc told PEOPLE, "Knowing without a shadow of a doubt that I didn't settle for something less than truly the person that I think was made for me is something that I am thankful for."

"No matter what, I have her in my corner," Ray said. "No matter what, she has me in her corner. I tell her, you're never going to face anything alone. Never will there be anything in life that you don't look over and I'm standing beside you."

The two knew each other professionally and started dating in 2018. That December, they got engaged in Tulum, Mexico.