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They divorced in 1970 — then quietly married each other again before the year was over. Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley had been together since 1956, long before Conway became one of country music’s biggest stars. They raised three children together, while his career kept growing and the road kept pulling him away. Mickey later remembered how difficult those early years became after “It’s Only Make Believe” exploded in 1958. She was home with small children while Conway suddenly had the career he had dreamed about. By early 1970, the strain was enough for them to divorce. But separation apparently did not erase what was still between them. Before 1970 ended, Conway and Mickey quietly remarried and tried again. This time they stayed together for another 14 years. But Conway’s life only became busier. By the mid-1980s, he was reportedly making around 200 personal appearances a year while running a growing business empire. Their marriage finally ended for good in 1984. Some couples discover after a divorce that they were right to leave. Conway and Mickey discovered they loved each other enough to come back — even if love alone could not make the second chance last forever.

Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley: A Love Story That Refused to End Quietly

Some marriages end with a clean break. Others linger in the air, unfinished, as if both people know the story is not really over. That was the case for Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley, whose relationship stretched across decades, heartbreak, and a second chance that few outsiders ever saw coming.

Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley had been together since 1956, years before Conway Twitty became a country star whose name filled arenas and record charts. They built a family together and raised three children while Conway Twitty chased the kind of career that demands long hours, long drives, and long absences. When “It’s Only Make Believe” turned Conway Twitty into a major hitmaker in 1958, the pressure grew even heavier. Mickey was left at home with small children while Conway Twitty’s world got louder, busier, and harder to hold onto.

By early 1970, the strain had become too much, and Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley divorced. On paper, that looked like the end of a marriage that had already been tested by fame and distance. But real life is often less tidy than paperwork suggests. Even after the divorce, something remained between them.

Then came the surprise. Before 1970 was over, Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley quietly married each other again. There was no grand public reset, no dramatic announcement designed to prove anything to the world. Instead, there was a private decision to try once more, as if both had recognized that love had survived the break, even if the original marriage had not.

The second marriage lasted another 14 years. Those years brought more success, more travel, and more responsibility. Conway Twitty’s career kept expanding, and by the mid-1980s he was reportedly making around 200 personal appearances a year while also managing a growing business empire. That kind of life can leave very little room for stillness, and very little room for the kind of ordinary connection marriages need to survive.

In 1984, Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley divorced for good.

Some couples discover after a divorce that they were right to leave. Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley discovered they loved each other enough to come back.

That does not make their story simple. It makes it human. Conway Twitty and Temple “Mickey” Medley were not a fairy tale, and they were not a failure either. They were two people who tried, split apart, reunited, and tried again. Sometimes that is what love looks like when life is loud, success is demanding, and the heart keeps remembering what it once chose.

 

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People once expected Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard to clash. Nearly fifty years later, Kris stood at Merle’s funeral and sang him home. When they first met, Kris was the long-haired songwriter some in Nashville saw as a hippie. Merle was already one of country music’s biggest stars. People expected them to be at odds. Kris remembered it differently. “From the first handshake we were best friends,” he later said. That friendship lasted for decades. They toured together, and less than two months before Merle died, they were still sharing a stage in California. Merle died on April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday. Three days later, at his private funeral, Kris picked up his guitar and sang “Sing Me Back Home.” It was one of Merle’s most personal songs, drawn from his memories of San Quentin and a fellow inmate facing death. Nearly fifty years after that first handshake, the man everyone expected Merle to clash with was there for one of his final goodbyes.

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Hours before Buck Owens died, he was already walking toward his car because he felt too sick to perform. Then some fans from Oregon stopped him. Buck had eaten his favorite chicken-fried steak at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, but told his band he wasn’t feeling well enough to go onstage. On his way out, he met fans from Bend, Oregon, who told him how far they had traveled just to hear him sing. Buck turned around. “If somebody’s come all that way, I’m gonna do the show and give it my best shot,” longtime Buckaroo Jim Shaw remembered him telling the audience. Buck performed that night, then went home. A few hours later, he died in his sleep. He was 76. There had been no farewell announcement. No one knew they were watching his final show. Buck had been too sick to play. But when he heard how far those fans had come, he turned around and gave them the show. It turned out to be his last.

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John Denver Wrote “Annie’s Song” in 10 Minutes — But Annie Named a Different Song as Her Favorite

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People once expected Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard to clash. Nearly fifty years later, Kris stood at Merle’s funeral and sang him home. When they first met, Kris was the long-haired songwriter some in Nashville saw as a hippie. Merle was already one of country music’s biggest stars. People expected them to be at odds. Kris remembered it differently. “From the first handshake we were best friends,” he later said. That friendship lasted for decades. They toured together, and less than two months before Merle died, they were still sharing a stage in California. Merle died on April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday. Three days later, at his private funeral, Kris picked up his guitar and sang “Sing Me Back Home.” It was one of Merle’s most personal songs, drawn from his memories of San Quentin and a fellow inmate facing death. Nearly fifty years after that first handshake, the man everyone expected Merle to clash with was there for one of his final goodbyes.

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Hours before Buck Owens died, he was already walking toward his car because he felt too sick to perform. Then some fans from Oregon stopped him. Buck had eaten his favorite chicken-fried steak at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, but told his band he wasn’t feeling well enough to go onstage. On his way out, he met fans from Bend, Oregon, who told him how far they had traveled just to hear him sing. Buck turned around. “If somebody’s come all that way, I’m gonna do the show and give it my best shot,” longtime Buckaroo Jim Shaw remembered him telling the audience. Buck performed that night, then went home. A few hours later, he died in his sleep. He was 76. There had been no farewell announcement. No one knew they were watching his final show. Buck had been too sick to play. But when he heard how far those fans had come, he turned around and gave them the show. It turned out to be his last.

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CONWAY TWITTY FINISHED A SHOW IN BRANSON ON JUNE 4, 1993. BY THE NEXT MORNING, IT HAD BECOME HIS LAST. That Friday night, Conway was still doing what he had done for decades — standing in front of a country crowd and singing the songs that had made him one of Nashville’s biggest stars. After the show, he climbed aboard his tour bus for the trip back toward Tennessee. Nashville’s Fan Fair was ahead. He never made it. During a rest stop in southwest Missouri, Conway collapsed on the bus. He was rushed to a Springfield hospital, where doctors operated after an abdominal aneurysm ruptured. On June 5, Conway Twitty died from complications following surgery. He was 59. There had been no farewell tour. No announcement that Branson would be the last time. The audience had simply watched Conway Twitty sing, applauded, and gone home. By the next morning, they were part of a farewell none of them knew they had witnessed.