So Chely Wright is gay. Hmm, that’s not the one I thought it would be, I always figured it would turn out to be Terri Clark or Wynonna Judd. In any event, who cares? Do you like her music or not? If you do, fine, buy it, if not, then don’t. I’m not a fan of her music, though I do own one of her older CD’s. But I’m thinking if I did like her music, I don’t think her being gay would stop me from buying it. I’ve bought k.d. lang music (openly gay) and I’ve bought Shelby Lynne music (rumored to be gay) because it’s great and not for any other reason. I honestly don’t think it matters if you’re a gay country singer as long as people’s perceptions aren’t shattered.
What I mean by that is that if it were revealed that Johnny Cash or Waylon Jennings were gay that would be a shock because they were manly men and one can’t imagine them being gay. Now if Kenny Chesney or Randy Travis came out, that would be a different story because they have been rumored to be gay for years so it wouldn’t be unexpected. I think the rumor alone would have done in their careers already if they sang anything other than poppy, fluffy love songs. Seriously, could Elton John effectively pull off a prison song? I don’t think so and I don’t think Kenny Chesney or Randy Travis could either.
Fueling Chely’s flame is singer, songwriter, loudmouth, John Rich, who according to the Los Angeles Times, once asked her if she was gay. When she denied it, he said, “Good, thank God.” That’s bad enough, but somewhat acceptable because he is entitled to his opinion. What isn’t acceptable is for him to say 10 years later that she took his comment the wrong way. Really, John? Really? Frankly, I don’t think people would be surprised if he came out, especially sporting that mustache like he does. Dishonesty, especially in country music, is really what people won’t tolerate. Dishonesty and bad music, John Rich is guilty of both.
Speaking about bad music, Chely shouldn’t have worried about what her sexual orientation would do to her career, her career has been dead for a long time because of bad music. If she had been making good music, her career would survive almost anything. Coincidentally (wink, wink) she and her new album are coming out at the same time.
So Chely’s gay? Big deal. Couldn’t care less. I think the bigger deal is that Geoff Boucher, writer of the aforementioned L. A. Times article, referred to a pedal steel guitar as a steel pedal guitar. If he’s writing what he knows, it sure isn’t country music. Hmm, what else could it possibly be?
