The Truth About Kimberly Schlapman's Husband
Little Big Town's Kimberly Schlapman knows a thing or two about heartbreak. Her first husband, Steven Roads, died suddenly of a heart attack in 2005 at the age of 41, while Little Big Town was out on tour. It was a shock for the whole band, but especially for Schlapman, who had been married to Roads for six years. Roads was not only Schlapman's husband, but he was Little Big Town's attorney, according to The Boot.
The band thought they were finished. Karen Fairchild told CBS News that she didn't know if Schlapman would sing again after Roads died. "There was so much sorrow in her eyes. So I didn't think she would really sing," she said. "I kind of thought the band was over." However, Schlapman's friends were there for her after her tragic loss. They called her. One friend called more than the rest. And, eventually, things turned around.
"I wasn't planning on falling in love, at all. I didn't want to," Schalpman told The Boot. "I wasn't sure that I ever would. So, my husband now and I were just really good friends, and after my late husband died, all my friends were calling me, all the time. Just checking up on me. He was just an old friend. We had known each other for about six years, and he started calling me just like everybody else did. But he started calling me more than everybody else did."
Let's take a look at the man who helped Kimberly Schlapman through her grief.
Kimberly and Stephen were longtime friends
When Stephen Schlapman started calling Kimberly Roads (as she went by back then), he was just her friend. Still, he had a deeper understanding of the grief she was experiencing. As Kimberly Schlapman explained to The Boot, "He hadn't lost a mate, but he had lost a close friend, so we kind of bonded over that. I had a lot of grief left, and he just took it and listened and accepted it and was so understanding and let me talk about my late husband all the time. We still talk about him a lot, and he's totally fine with it."
Stephen gave Kimberly much more than just a way through and past her grief. They married in 2006 and, even though Kimberly had struggled with fertility issues during her marriage to Roads, she got pregnant on their honeymoon. "It was just the most incredible gift," she told People. "I believe that my first husband, who was in heaven, I believe he begged God, 'Let's give her what she's always wanted for a wedding gift.' I believe that with all my heart, and so I got pregnant on my honeymoon. I know that was his wedding gift from heaven to me. I am 100 percent sure."
Their daughter Daisy was born in 2007. Kimberly and Stephen went on to adopt a baby girl they named Dolly in 2017, according to CountryFancast.com.