"I had a gun in my mouth"
Chicago, IL -
Singer Chely Wright, who just came out of the closet, said she felt like she had to stay in the closet to succeed in country music.
On the Today show on Wednesday, Wright said she dated male country music stars including Brad Paisley and Vince Gill while carrying on a secret relationship with a woman.
"I made these deals in my head," she said on ABC News. "If I'm going to go without real love, I'm going to find companionship with someone I can enjoy and that I like, that's my best friend and Brad and I were good friends.
"We enjoyed one another. ... He's wickedly funny. I liked how he lived his life and we were compatible in many ways."
The entire time, she was also dating a woman.
"Please don't let me be gay," she would pray to God. She said that God eventually told her to come out of the closet.
"I had a 9 millimeter gun in my mouth," she said on NBC this morning. "I was taking inventory of my life and I realized I had pieces that I just couldn't get to intersect. I was living a secret life and I was very much a country music celebrity, and I saw no way to get those to coexist. I gave up hope and I was ready to take my own life."
Wright said being an out lesbian feels "incredible" and "as if it's my birthday."
One of Wright's most popular songs, ironically enough, was "Single White Female" -- a song about a traditional boy/girl romance.
The 39-year-old made morning television appearances to promoter her latest album, "Lifted Off The Ground" and a new book release, "Like Me."
Wright is the first major country star to come out of the closet and there is no telling whether or not this will affect her fan base, which tends to be more traditional and socially conservative than average.
On the Today show on Wednesday, Wright said she dated male country music stars including Brad Paisley and Vince Gill while carrying on a secret relationship with a woman.
"I made these deals in my head," she said on ABC News. "If I'm going to go without real love, I'm going to find companionship with someone I can enjoy and that I like, that's my best friend and Brad and I were good friends.
"We enjoyed one another. ... He's wickedly funny. I liked how he lived his life and we were compatible in many ways."
The entire time, she was also dating a woman.
"Please don't let me be gay," she would pray to God. She said that God eventually told her to come out of the closet.
"I had a 9 millimeter gun in my mouth," she said on NBC this morning. "I was taking inventory of my life and I realized I had pieces that I just couldn't get to intersect. I was living a secret life and I was very much a country music celebrity, and I saw no way to get those to coexist. I gave up hope and I was ready to take my own life."
Wright said being an out lesbian feels "incredible" and "as if it's my birthday."
One of Wright's most popular songs, ironically enough, was "Single White Female" -- a song about a traditional boy/girl romance.
The 39-year-old made morning television appearances to promoter her latest album, "Lifted Off The Ground" and a new book release, "Like Me."
Wright is the first major country star to come out of the closet and there is no telling whether or not this will affect her fan base, which tends to be more traditional and socially conservative than average.
