Country music star Chely Wright is reportedly coming out the closet.The announcement will be later this week with the obligatory People cover, sources say.
The May 5 celebrity coming out has been rumored for weeks. This weekend, Queerty guessed it was Wright and TMZ confirmed it.
"Wright has a book coming out this week as well -- it's
called, Like Me. And she has a CD coming out too called Lifted
Off the Ground. The 39-year-old singer scored a #1 country song
back in 1999 with "Single White Female," when she was named Academy of
Country Music new artist of the year. She has been romantically linked to a
number of celebs, including Brad Paisley. This is a big deal in the country world. Chely is rolling the dice on
her career ... it's unclear how traditionally-conservative country fans
will react."
Wright's announcement will be another highly-orchestrated media strategy by Howard Bragman, the gay public relations guru who advised Chaz Bono, Lance Bass and others. In addition to the People cover, there will be appearances on The View, Larry King and others, sources tell R20. Sources tell R20 the liner notes for Wright's new CD will include a list of LGBT resources for gay youth, including GLSEN and Faith In America.
Wright has been absent from the scene for several years, but was the first entertainer to perform in Iraq after the 2003 invasion. Bravo to Wright for coming out and good luck with her career. If there's anyone that needs to hear an inclusive message, its the country music/NASCAR audience. Watch Chely Wright perform "Single White Female" WHEN YOU JUMP ...
good for her im glad she's found the courage to come out
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Posted by: PROTOTYPE_SUI | 02 May 2010 at 16:22
It'll be very interesting to see how this plays with Country Fans...
Posted by: reggieh | 02 May 2010 at 19:41
reggieh, something tells me the Country music community is more excepting than say, the Hip-Hop R&B community.
Posted by: Dluv | 02 May 2010 at 21:57
I'm - torn. While anyone remotely in the industry deciding to come out is good news, I'm feeling a little bit let down that the "big celebrity" hyped up for the past couple weeks is someone who's been notably absent from the scene in quite some time. Though recently out Ricky Martin is still megawatt, he's also been notably absent for some time and come on, noone was actually shocked.
I'm waiting for the day when someone is in their prime, movie ticket sales, albums, or DVD's flying off the shelves and just finds the guts to say f*ck it, I'm gay. I don't mind if there are a few rumors already, but not mainstream speculation a la Ricky.
Usher, Trey, shyt even Tyler Perry would do..and before anyone chides my wishes saying it's too much to ask for, just remember, so was a black President. Here's hoping for change.
Posted by: Procrastination_Xtravaganza | 04 May 2010 at 12:25