11 LGBTQ+ Country Artists You Should Be Listening To

June 21, 2021

This Pride Month we are celebrating music, musicians, fans, and the overwhelmingly talented and positive impact that LGBTQ+ community members have had on country music.

Make no mistake about it, queer people sing country music, they write country music, they sell it, they listen to it, they live it and they love it. And if you, for any reason, have a problem with that, you are reading the wrong post today. Toodles.

We are all better for having voices from the LGBTQ+ community in country music. Whether it’s having Brooke Eden breakthrough with a summer jam and putting her partner in the music video, or Ty Herndon hosting the Concert For Love & Acceptance every year and raising money for great causes. We are lucky to have gay voices included.

I’ve heard some folks say that things are getting better in country music for LGBTQ+ people. And I hope that’s true. I hope that there are more heartwarming coming out stories. But mostly, I hope that we just start to see queer country artists breaking through without having to make a coming out statement, because they were able to get signed, get recorded and get on the radio when everyone knew they were gay or lesbian or bi or Trans the whole time.

Note: We know that country music, country music fans, and the whole damn thing has not always been welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. It was only a few short years ago when we wrote that Country Music Has A Homophobia Problem after some bigots got Little Big Town’s Girl Crush pulled from country radio in the United States. We know it needs to be better. We hope it keeps going in a better direction.

In this post, we’ve got 11 artists, links to learn more about them, and a song y’all should listen to while you’re here. We’ve even got a cheeky bonus for you at the bottom, as a treat. So, have a look at the names in the honourable mentions list and keep an eye on them in the future, and start scrolling through the list.

Enjoy! Happy Pride!

Honourable Mentions: Hayden Joseph, Katie Pruitt, Trixie Mattel, Maddie Rean, Shelly Fairchild , Billy Gillman, Jamie Wyatt, Drake Jensen.