Country Star Chely Wright Done Hiding, Comes Out

By PopEater Staff Posted May 3rd 2010 12:05PM

The speculation is over, the rumors confirmed: The star coming out in this week's PEOPLE magazine is country singer Chely Wright, the first artist to rock her conservative-leaning genre with such news.

"Nothing in my life has been more magical than the moment I decided to come out. I hid everything for my music," Wright tells PEOPLE. The 39-year-old songstress behind the hit 'Single White Female' was raised in the South in "a community in which homosexuality was shunned."

Wright was hesitant to make the announcement for many years. "There had never, ever been a country music artist who had acknowledged his or her homosexuality," she says in PEOPLE's story, on newsstands Friday. "I wasn't going to be the first."

Wright recorded 'Hard to Be a Husband, Hard to Be a Wife' with Brad Paisley, to whom she was once romantically linked.

The announcement is part of a big week for Wright: Her memoir, 'Like Me,' and her first record in five years, 'Lifted off the Ground,' will both hit stores.

Various sources are beginning to speculate how Wright's announcement will play with conservative listeners in the country music community.

Watch the video for Wright's 1999 hit, 'Single White Female,' below:

Tags: Chely Wright

Comments

(73)

Monday 03 May

By Stacey

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There is nothing wrong with being gay. You are what you are. I think that it is great that she came out. You cant help how you feel. Love is wonderful..

Tuesday 04 May

By miguel

This is the first I've heard of Chelys' music, and to me (not really a country music listener)she sounds good!, and smoking hot too! YEE-HAA!

By jsb

SPIRIT......You're an IDIOT.

By Denise

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I do not care if she is a lesbian she sings good and Chely will do just fine. People neeed to stop judging people and except them for who they are. I do n to judge staright people for their actions or whatever. Get A LIFE PEOPLE... I AM HAPPY FOR YOU Chely

By rockined1

I guess no one here has heard of Wilma Burgess. SHe had a few hits in the late 60s/early 70s. SHe was opnely gay and only wanted to record songs that did not mention gender. There was also some speculation about a gal named Charline Arthur back in the 50s [she may have been Bi though]

By lolabull

Hey, listen up everyone....I'm a flaming hetero-sexual! Just thought the world needed to know.......and thank you too Cheryl for letting the rest of us know your sexual orientation as well. It's just so important for this information to be shared with the public. You are an inspiration to us all, as am I.

By luialva

I look it at this way if your not gay that's great and if your gay that's great . In other words live and let live and who cares.

Granted I am not a full of hang ups bible thumper who has no concept of separation and state .

By Rodney

I am a political independent. I do not believe that Bush was a GREAT president. I do believe that he was a decent man, who presided during some very difficult & trying times, and he did the best that he knew to do. As for the remarks that Bush was the worst president ever and he had bad intentions, those opinions are untempered by even a scant knowledge of American History or human nature. This had nothing directly to do with this blog. What Ms. Wright has decided -- rightly or wrongly -- is a personal decision. What the Dixie Chicks decided to do was political. To ME, there's a large difference. One is about TOLERANCE; the other about faithfulness. As a Vietnam Veteran, I also believe Jane Fonda was unfaithful to our country. Maybe what she did doesn't rise to the level of treason, but, if not, it was as close as you can get. The Chicks weren't as bad as she, but they WERE unfaithful to the United States -- its Democrats, its Republicans, its independents and the politcally agnostic. I have no love lost for them, but I do sympathize with Ms. Wright. Maybe I shouldn't even opine, because I know nothing about her or her craft. I just hope, in general, she isn't condemned because she chooses to walk a different path.

By KLS

Who cares? If the media didn't make it such an event, it would be a non-issue... just like everything else in the world. Big deal... so she likes women. I like men... let's release a media statement!

By fidonv

I love the way Pop Eater edits out any view that doesn't match their own. Just another example of the manipulating press.

Monday 10 May

By YOU...

Chely... Thank you for your courage. I, too, attempted suicide and nearly succeeded. I was in the ICU because I hated my sexuality. Anyone who thinks sexuality is a "choice" needs to ask themselves this... Could you go, as a straight person,and be with a member of the same sex? No, you could not make that "choice". I have been gay as far back as I remember. I never liked it. I just wanted a "normal" life. I tried to live a straight life but I felt nothing for men in the sexual sense. This is genetic folks... It's as much a part of the DNA as hair and eye color. I am a Christian and I would die for God right now, but I am, and always have been, homosexual. Chely... I have been hiding for 45 yrs. Your courage has made me consider doing as you have done. We all support you and respect your decision to simply be who you are and have always been.... God bless you...

Tuesday 11 May

By M

so a loser
with no career left
admits her perversion
and drags Brad into it
sick
loser

going down down the drain

gone
gone
gone

repent Chely

you career was over

now it is ancient history