Colbie Caillat Exits Gone West 4 Months After Ending Engagement to Justin Young

Colbie Caillat has announced that she and ex-fiancé Justin Young are leaving their country band, Gone West, after two years as a group, sharing the decision in a post on social media on Wednesday. “After a lot of thought during this time, Justin and I have decided to leave Gone West,” Caillat began. “Creative partnerships, especially with friends, are both rewarding and challenging at times, and though this was not an easy decision, we know ending the band was the right one.”

The singer added that “Justin and I are best friends, and will continue to make music together forever.” In June, Gone West released its debut album, Canyons, which contained the group’s debut single, “What Could’ve Been.”

“We’re so proud of the music the four of us created together over the past three years,” Caillat wrote. “Canyons is an album we truly love and cherish, every song holds so much truth in the experiences we all go through in life. I want to thank all of my fans and all of Gone West’s fans for supporting our music, coming to our shows and everything in between.”

The 35-year-old, who has won two Grammy awards as a solo artist and sold millions of albums, also expressed her thanks to country radio, JR & Sirius XM, the group’s record label, Triple Tigers, and their team’s “hard work and creativity, and for believing in us and helping our music get out into the world.” She concluded, “Thank you all. Here’s to whatever adventure comes next…”

Caillat and Young’s exit comes four months after the two announced that they were ending their 10-year relationship. Married couple Jason Reeves and Nelly Joy are now the remaining two members of the band. Gone West was scheduled to be on the road this summer and fall but those tour dates have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In May, Caillat told PopCulture.com that she “always wanted to be in a band” growing up. “For me this was something I looked forward to doing eventually at some point in my career,” she said. “I thought it would be so special to get to do it with my three great friends that I’ve known for 15 years, that I’ve toured the world with and got to write songs with and it makes it special. A lot of people don’t know that when they see us that we’ve been connected for so long and this is really just a natural progression for us to start a band together. I do think it’s important for all of us to find the balance of being fully in Gone West and also not losing sight of who we were before that and still having our individual sound and music eventually at some point as well.”