Country music is filled with talented queer stars.
Taylor Hill/WireImage; Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images; Jared Siskin/Getty Images courtesy of GLAAD
Country music is a genre that is gaining popularity right now.
After country singer Jason Aldean's wife made an ignorant post thanking her parents for “not forcing” her to be transgender when she was a tomboy, other singers such as Maren Morris fired back, saying there is no place for homophobia or transphobia in country music and that those who persist in it need to change or get out of the way.
“I hate feeling like I have to be the police force in country music to treat people like human beings. It's exhausting,” Morris said of his message to Aldean, “but there's this very insidious culture of being so comfortable with transphobia and homophobia and racism that if you wrap it up in a joke, no one will call you out. It's normalized for people to behave that way.”
But Morris is not alone — in fact, there are many LGBTQ+ country singers and artists who are not only opening doors and breaking barriers, but also creating some of the best country music today.
Here are 21 of our favorites!
Maren Morris
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Country music superstar and Grammy Award winner Maren Morris has become one of the genre's biggest stars over the past decade, winning five Country Music Association Awards and five Academy of Country Music Awards. Her song “My Church” won a Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance. She is also a member of the supergroup The Highwomen, along with Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires.
Lil Nas X
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While most of Lil Nas X's music is hip hop and pop, his first hit was the number one country crossover hit “Old Town Road,” a country-rap song that peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot Country chart before falling off the charts.
Brandi Carlile
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Bundy Carlile is, simply put, one of the greatest Americana and country artists of all time. The lesbian singer has released seven studio albums and received 18 Grammy nominations throughout her career, which has included a solo career, a stint producing and writing for country legend Tanya Tucker, and a stint in country supergroup The Highwomen with Amanda Shires, Maren Morris, and Natalie Hemby.
TJ Osborne
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TJ, one half of country duo The Brothers Osborne, came out as gay in 2021 and continues to release hit songs with the band. Since TJ came out, the band won their first Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance and won the Academy of Country Music Award for Vocal Duo of the Year.
Brandy Clark
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Lesbian singer Brandy Clark is a songwriter and artist who was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2015. In addition to recording her own country songs, she has also written songs for Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker, and Kacey Musgraves, among others.
Lily Rose
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In 2022, Lily-Rose became the first country singer to win the GLAAD Media Award for Breakthrough Music Artist. She is also CMT's 2022 Next Generation Country Woman of the Year.
Shane McAnally
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Gaye is one of country music's greatest songwriters and producers, having produced records like “Same Trailer Different Park” and “Pageant Material” for Kacey Musgraves, as well as music for artists like Kelly Clarkson, Kelsea Ballerini, Sam Hunt, Walker Hayes, Old Dominion and Midland.
Orville Peck
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With his fringed mask and deep voice, Orville Peck sings slow-burning country ballads that could bring any cowboy to tears. He has released two albums, “Pony” and “Bronco.”
Cherry Wright
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Wright began her career as a country singer without coming out, but as her career progressed, she decided to come out publicly in 2010 with a memoir and album titled Lifted Off the Ground, which delves deeply into her coming out process and is one of the most beautiful country albums of the 2010s.
Lavender Country
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One of the original outcountry artists is Lavender Country, who formed in 1972. Their self-titled album, released in 1973, is known as the first gay-themed country music album. Over the years, Patrick Haggerty has been the only constant member of the band, with others such as Michael Carr, Eve Morris, and Robert Hammerstrom making up the band's original lineup. They have been releasing new music in recent years.
Paisley Fields
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Paisley Fields (he/him/she/her) performed under the name for many years before recently adopting it as his own: “I feel like I've grown a lot in the last 10 years that I've been performing as Paisley Fields. As I've come to identify more as non-binary, I feel like Paisley is a better name for me. It feels like a more natural fit.” He has released two albums, Glitter and Sawdust and Electric Park Ballroom.
Waylon Payne
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Payne is the son of guitarist Jody Payne and country singer Sammi Smith. He was disowned by his family after coming out as gay and revealing that he was sexually abused by his uncle. He released the album “The Drifter” in 2004 and has written songs with Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, and others.
Trixie Mattel
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RuPaul's Drag Race queen Trixie Mattel may bring a lot of camp and comedy to her drag, but her country music is seriously great, too. She's released songs with Lavender Country and covered the Johnny Cash and June Carter hit “Jackson” with Orville Peck.
Brooke Eden
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Brooke Eden launched her country music career after auditioning for American Idol. She has released two EPs, “Brooke Eden” and “Welcome to the Weekend,” and in 2021 released two new songs when she came out as queer and announced her engagement to Hillary Huber.
Allison Russell
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Canadian artist Russell was a member of the musical groups Po Girl, Birds of Chicago, and Our Native Daughters before releasing her first solo album Outside Child in 2021. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Americana Album category, and the track “Nightflyer” was nominated for two additional Grammy Awards.
Ty Herndon
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Herndon is considered by many to be the first mainstream male country artist to come out as gay in 2014. Prior to that, he released 10 studio albums between 1995 and 2022 and had three No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Country charts: “What Mattered Most,” “Living in a Moment” and “It Must Be Love.”
Billy Gilman
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In 2000, at the age of 11, Gilman became the youngest artist to have a top 40 country hit when “One Voice” reached the top 20 of the charts. The song also earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. Gilman came out at a young age after watching fellow country singer Ty Herndon come out in 2014. He later competed on The Voice in 2016, where he was the runner-up.
Harper Grey
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Before breaking into the country music industry, Grey appeared on the reality TV show, “The Glee Project.” She released her first album, “Break Your Crowns,” in 2017 and after releasing several singles, she released her second album, “Confessions of a Good Southern Lady,” in 2022.
Katie Pruitt
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In 2018, Rolling Stone named Pruitt one of the “10 New Country Artists to Know.” She released her debut album, Expectations, in 2020. The album explored the intersection of lesbianism and religion, and her song “Loving You” became an anthem of self-acceptance about loving who you love no matter what.
Amethyst Kia
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Kia, who plays guitar and banjo, has released two solo albums and one EP. She was also a member of Our Native Daughters with Allison Russell. In 2020, she was nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song for “Black Myself.”
Joy Oladokun
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Singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun's music blends folk, Americana, R&B and pop, sounding like a modern-day Joan Armatrading or Tracy Chapman. She has released three studio albums: Carry, In Defense of My Own Happiness (The Beginnings) and In Defense of My Own Happiness.