AceShowbiz -

Natalie Imbruglia and her husband of four years Daniel Johns announced the demise of their marriage in a joint statement Friday, January 4, blamed their "career demands" for the split.

The 32-years-old Aussie singer-songwriter said she and Silverchair frontman Johns had grown apart due to the pressures of work.

In a joint statement, the pair said "While we are very sad that our marriage has ended, we want to make it clear that our parting is amicable, and we remain friends. This mutual decision has not been taken lightly or quickly. However, our career demands and our lives in different parts of the world have brought us to the point where unfortunately this difficult decision was necessary for both of us. We have simply grown apart through not being able to spend enough time together."

They went on adding, "We have issued this statement to set the record straight and to eliminate any need for speculation. We will not be making any further public statements whatsoever in regard to this very private matter and politely ask that people respect our sincere wishes in this regard."

Imbruglia and Johns met at an awards show party in 1999 and married four years later in their native Australia on New Year's Eve in a beachside ceremony in Queensland, with the guest list comprised of everyone from Kylie Minogue, Guy Pearce to Virgin boss Richard Branson. They have no children together.

Prior to the announcement they made on their separation, the couple had indeed been the subject of break-up rumours for some time, partly due to the length of time they spent apart.