Today, there were two stories coming out of Nashville, one about love and one about hate. In a hell-raiser of a last 12 months, we want to focus on the former – TJ Osborne coming out as the only openly gay artist to be signed to a major country label, as he revealed to Time Magazine.Â
The spotlight was on Nashville today – one with a story about hate, as Morgan Wallen was suspended indefinitely from his record label amidst the circulation of a video in which he utters a racist slur -and one of love, with TJ Osborne coming out as gay, telling his story exclusively to Time Magazine. What is incredible is that, even in 2021, this is still a momentous event, but momentous it is. TJ’s announcement means that he is the only openly gay artist to be signed to a major country label. Sharing the news on his own social, TJ shares, ‘This story always seemed too mountainous to tell but now that it’s been told I am at a loss for words as to how clear the path was all along. Thanks to all of the pillars of people I have in my life and thanks to @samlansky and @time for carrying me across the finish line. #proud #pride#3chordsandthetruth.’
The status of the duo – having won four CMAs, seven Grammy nominations – will hopefully pave a path for a new day for the genre, one that is more open and beckoning in a new legion of country artists, such as Cameron Hawthorn and indeed, success on radio for the likes of Brandy Clark and Brandi Carlile. TJ’s announcement will be an example to a new generation of country fans worldwide. As TJ himself says to TIME, ‘I’m very comfortable being gay…I find myself being guarded for not wanting to talk about something that I personally don’t have a problem with. That feels so strange.’ For a genre that has been almost exclusively filled with white and straight singers, it is a pivotal moment for the country industry and fans to get behind and the outpouring of love from the country industry toward TJ feels like a far cry from the response to Chely Wright’s public announcement in 2010 when she came out (the response to which has been shown in her documentary Wish Me Away). However, while Nashville has changed, it remains to be seen whether the country fans (largely in conservative States) will similarly get behind the duo – the shadow of the fall of The Chicks and Wright’s career still looms large, but this is a vital step in the right direction of remoulding the genre.
It is important to note that the news came out on a day when Morgan Wallen has been dropped by his label and removed from more than 400 US radio playlists, following the emergence of a video in which he uses a racial slur. The almost unanimous outcry against Wallen’s comments are hopefully further proof that Nashville – a city in a state that continues to have problems with racism – is changing and finally broadening the demographic of its’ artists.
Is Nashville finally ready for change? It seems so, we just hope the bastions of country music fans get behind TJ in the same way that his fellow artists have.
