Chase Stokes and Kelsea Ballerini Break Up Just Days After Loved-Up Birthday Post

TMZ confirmed the news Sunday, after a source for Ballerini told PEOPLE, "They're two adults who gave it their all and tried to do everything they could to make it work, but ultimately couldn't. It happens."

The news came as a surprise to their fans after with the Outer Banks star taking to Instagram just two days ago to with Ballerini a happy 32nd birthday.

In the post, which featured pictures of the former couple over the years, Banks expressed how much he was looking forward to making more memories together.

"although you keep saying you're not excited for 32, id say I’m lookin forward to more of this," Stokes wrote. "happy birthday my love ❤️."

Sounding off in the comments of Stokes' post, fans shared their confusion over the news the pair had split so soon after he shared the sweet birthday tribute for Ballerini.

"How did they go from this to breaking up? News just broke 😭," one fan wrote, with another commenting, "Guys I need answers. Who else is here looking for ANSWERS!?"

"Two days ok you posted this and People says you broke up today? I’m not following. Confused! Hoping it's not true," another added.

Stokes and the country initially sparked dating rumors in January 2023 after Stokes shared a cuddly photo of him and Ballerini at a college football game. After teasing their relationship in a handful of interviews, they went public with their romance in April 2023 while walking the red carpet at the CMT Awards.

Speaking about their dynamic in a September 2024 interview with PEOPLE, Stokes said he kept his relationship with Ballerini going strong by "never going more than three weeks" without seeing her.

"If we need to make the effort to show up when one's across the country, we do it," Stokes said at the time. "The amount of effort that we put into our careers, we should be doubling that in our personal lives."

He continued, "It's not always easy and it's not always convenient, but having a big, beautiful life didn't come from convenience or ease."

Prior to her relationship with Stokes, Ballerini was married to fellow musician, Morgan Evans. Speaking about the difference between her marriage and her relationship with Stokes, the "If You Go Down" singer told the outlet, "I didn’t really have an example of what a solid relationship looked like in my developmental years. I learned the hard way."

"Now my version of love that I've found, it's steady and it’s human, and we work on it. That, to me, honestly, is the sexiest thing, like, 'Hey, you want to go to therapy? Let's go to therapy,'" Ballerini continued. "Being so down with your person to put in the work for each other and individually, it's a very new kind of love for me."