Ryan Adams & Mandy Moore's Split Is Even Worse Now

Ever since the sad news about Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams' divorce broke, the yearning, breathy chorus to Moore's 1999 pop track "I Wanna Be With You" just won't stop running through my head. Referencing such a sappy love song isn't to make light of the situation, of course. In fact, hearing about the couple's decision to split is just unbearably disheartening for me, mostly because it feels like the break-up came out of nowhere. No one saw this one coming! More surprising, however, might just be this: Throughout their nearly six-year marriage, Moore and Adams have insisted on keeping their relationship private, so I expected for them to go on some sort of a temporary, self-imposed exile from public appearances, at least until all the media fuss blows over — but that doesn't seem to be the case. On Friday night, while everyone attempted to come to terms with the couple's shocking divorce filings, Ryan Adams made his first post-Mandy Moore split appearance on The Late Late Show.

Filmed earlier Friday, before the news broke, Adams appeared on the how with host Judd Apatow, and took to the stage to sing an acoustic version of his Grammy-nominated ballad "Gimme Something Good" with some help from producer and phenomenal bass player Don Was.

Just like I expected, it was pretty much filled with a sense of that overwhelmingly heartbreaking, mushy post-breakup sadness. (Perhaps that could also be related to the song's intense subject matter, or Adams' immense ability to evoke emotion through his singing, though). Either that's the case, or I'm clearly projecting my angst and sadness about their split onto the performance.

Also, it doesn't help matters knowing that Moore sang background vocals on the original song. Sigh.

While obviously, I need to pull it together, Adams made it through the entire set without shedding a tear or belting out a cracked note that valiantly fought its way through his emotion. Sad circumstances aside, the performance was especially captivating and definitely worth the watch.

Check out Adams and Was performing "Gimme Something Good" below: