Porter, Etheridge live "Happy Ever After You"

Friday, January 10, 2025 – A result of the first co-write in over a decade between Nashville-based singer-songwriters MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge, the married duo release their viral duet "Happy Ever After You" today.

Dubbing their musical partnership Thelma & James, Porter and Etheridge shared an impromptu video that garnered over five million views while praise rolled in from fans and fellow artists like John Mayer, Luke Combs, Brandi Carlile, Natasha Bedingfield, ERNEST and Ella Langley, leading to the song's official release.

The chorus of the song is:
"I got a hole in my heart damn near the size of Texas and I think you left it
I got a picture of you and me circa 2019
Don't know why I kept it
I got a story I tell myself until my face is in the blue
But I got no happy ever after you

"We met songwriting, fell in love and chose to keep our careers separate as we have pretty different tastes in music," said Porter and Etheridge in a press release. "Usually in the morning before we both leave for our separate writes we jokingly ask, 'got any good hooks I can steal?' and 'happy ever after you' was one thrown out some months back.

"Luckily, we ended up just writing it together. It's amazing what this little moment has turned into already. Sometimes it's just right under your nose (or bed) the whole time."

Last year, Porter released her 19-song debut album, "Nobody's Born With A Broken Heart" co-hosted the CCMA Awards with Thomas Rhett where she was crowned Female Artist of the Year, as well as touring alongside Keith Urban and Parker McCollum.