While it remains to be seen how fans will respond to her announcement, there’s evidence that some of the genres biggest stars would be supportive. Her announcement comes the same week that her memoir, “Like Me,” and her first album in five years, “Lifted off the Ground,” are released.

Wright’s camp seems to be going all-in on the bet that being openly gay won’t hurt her career - and they will find out quickly. And country music’s artists and fans have typically skewed to be more conservative than not.

But, this is mostly uncharted waters for country music: There’s never been a major star in this genre to reveal his or her homosexuality. In short, coming out of the closet doesn’t seem to negatively impact one’s career. And stars like George Michael, Melissa Etheridge – and even younger, less established artists like “American Idol” alums Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert – along with many others, have come out of the closet and gone on to greater success. The move is obviously not without precedent Ricky Martin came out in the same way just a month ago. Chely released a new Americana EP entitled Revival in May of 2019.Growing online buzz and speculation came to a head this past weekend when it was revealed that country artist Chely Wright, 39, would announce that she is gay in this week’s People Magazine. The end of 2018 saw the release of the holiday EP Santa Will Find You, which No Depression called the 'warmest, most-family oriented' of recent holiday records. In 2016, Wright released her critically- acclaimed studio album entitled I Am The Rain, produced by Joe Henry. Chely made history by being the first country music star to publicly come out as gay, which she revealed in her 2010 memoir entitled “Like Me,” published by Random House. The Academy of Country Music named Wright 'Top New Female Vocalist of 1995.' Her first hit came in 1997 with “Shut Up and Drive,” followed two years later by her first number one single, “Single White Female,” and in 2005 'The Bumper of My S.U.V.” In 2010, Chely Wright released her eighth album, Lifted Off the Ground produced by Rodney Crowell, revealing a dramatic artistic transformation and emerging as a singer songwriter of the first order. Chely Wright rose to fame as a commercial country singer in the '90s, and has since released eight studio albums and charted more than 15 singles on the Billboard charts.

Like Me by Chely Wright