Chely Wright Award-winning American country artist Chely Wright has come out, after spending years believing she had to hide her sexuality for the sake of her career. She has told People.com she had previously resisted the urge to publicly address being a lesbian because she didn't want to be the first country star to do so. "There had never, ever been a country music artist who had acknowledged his or her homosexuality," she told the magazine. "I wasn't going to be the first." She changed her mind and says nothing in her life has been more magical than the moment she decided to come out. The 39-year-old says she kept her sexuality from the public in order to protect her career as a musician. "I don't have a memory in my life that doesn't include the dream of making music," she says. "I hid everything for my music." Wright has won a number of awards, including several from the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. American media are describing her as the first major country artist to come out, a claim which has sparked anger from KD Lang fans across the globe, who point out Lang started out in country music - and came out in The Advocate in the early 1990s. Check out Chely Wright's video for Shut Up and Drive below.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 5th May 2010 - 8:33am