As one of the most eligible bachelors in all of popular music, singer-songwriter Zach Bryan's love life is a constant point of interest. After all, his lone marriage preceded his rise to country and crossover prominence, making "who's dating Zach Bryan?" a trending question.
Bryan split from ex-wife Rose Madden three months before he got honorably discharged from the Navy so he could pursue his music career full-time. Though Madden was around for the singer-songwriter's April 2021 Grand Ole Opry debut and the major-label deal that followed, she was out of the picture before the meteoric successes of April 2022's "Something in the Orange" and the chart-topping album it's from, American Heartbreak.
However, Bryan did have a partner upon his arrival as a major star. He's since had his highest-profile romance. Heading into the 2024 Grammy Awards, there's no guarantee that his most recent girlfriend will walk the red carpet with him.
Bryan's up for three awards at this year's Grammy Awards. His self-titled follow-up to American Heartbreak's in the running for Best Country Album. His first No. 1 pop hit, Kacey Musgraves co-write and duet "I Remember Everything" is up for Best Country Song and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. His first Grammy nomination (Best Country Solo Performance) came in 2022 for "Something in the Orange."
Read on for everything we know about Bryan's ex-wife and his dating history since becoming a divorcee.
Bryan's Ex-Wife, Rose Madden (July 2020 - July 2021)
Shortly before he became famous, Bryan was married for a year to fellow Navy veteran Madden. The couple wed in July of 2020 in Washington state, with news of their split spreading the following July.
Per HTownDaily, the couple had to reschedule their wedding more than once because of the pandemic, and the original plan was to get married in Canada.
Not much is known about Madden. She divorced Bryan a few months before he left the Navy to pursue music full time. However, her LinkedIn page reveals that she lives in Oak Harbor, Wash. and was a Naval aviator from 2017 to 2023.
Both remain mum about their split.
Girlfriend Deb Peifer (Jan. 2022- May 2023)
Peifer, who graduated from Manhattan College in 2020 and now works as an education program coordinator in Philadelphia, and Bryan celebrated her one-year anniversary with Bryan on Jan. 3, 2023.
"one whole year of me and you and that smol little brown bear. To many more road trips and sunsets and people asking me to break up with you," Peifer captioned a since-deleted social media post. (as quoted by Page Six).
On May 31, 2023, Bryan tweeted that the couple had broken up.
"For transparency and with respect I am letting everyone know Debra and me went our separate ways about a week and a half ago," he wrote. "Things are mutual between us, we're leaving with plenty memories and good times. I beg so much that everyone respects her and my privacy through a hard time."
The former couple have since scrubbed pictures of each other off social media.
Girlfriend Brianna LaPaglia (2023 - ???)
Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images
In July of 2023, LaPaglia —known professionally as Brianna Chickenfry— went public with their relationship. While the two exes covered above were regular folks, Bryan's most recent partner is a social media influencer, known mostly as a podcast host for Barstool Sports.
The future couple met last May at the ACM Awards. In June, sparks started flying after LaPaglia attended a Bryan concert in New York.
"I was still with my boyfriend at the concert. And then, a few days later, me and Joey break up. And [Bryan] had already broken up with his girlfriend, and then he f—-ing slid into my DMs," she told her "BFF" podcast co-hosts. "I made a podcast after we went onstage and was like, 'Eat the rich besides Zach Bryan' and he posted it and then he DM'd me and said, 'That was so sweet, thank you guys for coming.' And then we just started chatting."
From there, they clicked.
"He's like, the nicest, most genuine person I've ever met. He's so normal," she said on "BFF." "We did a f—-ing 18-hour car ride together and ... didn't turn the music on once and talked the whole time. That's when I knew, like, oh this guy's actually awesome. We got to know each other. We've been spending a lot of time together."
Because of LaPaglia's public profile, it was much harder this time for Bryan and a partner to keep things private.
"I wanted to keep it quiet as long as I could, but everyone on the internet is FBI agents, so they figured everything out and I was like, 'I need to get ahead of it, I need to say what's right, what's real and what's true,' so I did it on my podcast," LaPaglia told People.
Many of the same internet sleuths questioned if the couple had broken up in early 2024 after Bryan apparently unfollowed the "BFF" podcast and other accounts during the Golden Globes. Some insist, though, that Bryan re-followed LaPaglia on social media the following day.
