Melissa Etheridge, Tammy Lynn Michaels Split

Melissa and Tammy Etheridge have broken up after nearly nine years and tow children together, the couple's rep said in a statement Wednesday.

The long-term partners decided to part ways this year: "Melissa and Tammy Etheridge are saddened to announce that they are now separated."

The former couple added in a joint statement: "We ask for consideration and respect for our family as we go through this difficult period."

Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels exchanged vows in Malibu in September 2003. She then went by the name of Tammy Etheridge.

Tammy gave birth to their children – son Miller and daughter Johnnie Rose – in 2006, after Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The Grammy-winning singer is also mother to two older children, Bailey, 13, and Beckett, 11, with her previous partner Julie Cypher.