Country music has more than its share of talented queer stars!

The country music genre is having a moment.

After the wife of country singer Jason Aldean made an ignorant post thanking her parents for not "forcing her" to be trans when she was a tomboy, other singers, like Maren Morris, clapped back, saying there's no room for homophobia and transphobia in country music and that those clinging onto it need to change or get out of the way.

"I hate feeling like I need to be the hall monitor of treating people like human beings in country music. It's exhausting," Morris said of her message to Aldean. "But there's a very insidious culture of people feeling very comfortable being transphobic and homophobic and racist, and that they can wrap it in a joke and no one will ever call them out for it. It just becomes normal for people to behave like that."

But Morris isn't alone. In fact, there are plenty of LGBTQ+ country singers and artists out there who aren't only opening doors and breaking barriers, but also putting out some of the best country music today.

Keep scrolling to check out 29 country singers from the LGBTQ+ community!

Maren Morris

Country superstar and Grammy winner Maren Morris has been one of the biggest stars of the genre in the last decade, winning five Country Music Association Awards and five Academy of Country Music Awards. Her song "My Church" won the Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance. She's also a member of the supergroup The Highwomen, with Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, and Amanda Shires.

Lil Nas X

While most of his music is hip hop and pop, Lil Nas X's first hit was the country crossover number one smash "Old Town Road." This country rap song reached number 19 on the Billboard Hot Country chart before it was disqualified from appearing on the chart.

Brandi Carlile

Bandi Carlile is, simply put, one of the greatest Americana and country artists of all time. In her career, the lesbian singer has released seven studio albums and been nominated for 26 Grammys, including for solo work, producing and writing for country legend Tanya Tucker, and in the country supergroup The Highwomen with Amanda Shires, Maren Morris, and Natalie Hemby.

T.J. Osborne

One half of country duo The Brothers Osborne, T.J. came out as gay in 2021 and continues to release hits with his band. Since T.J. came out, the band has won its first Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance, and won an Academy of Country Music Award for Vocal Duo of the Year.

Brandy Clark

Lesbian singer Brandy Clark is a songwriter and artist who was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy in 2015. Aside from recording her own country songs, she's also written for Miranda Lambert, the Band Perry, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker, and Kacey Musgraves.

Lily Rose

In 2022, Lily Rose became the first country singer to win the GLAAD Media Award for Breakthrough Music Artist. She's also part of CMT's 2022 class of Next Women of Country.

Shane McAnally

One of country music's greatest songwriters and producers is gay. He's produced records like Kacey Musgraves'Same Trailer Different Park and Pageant Material, as well as music for artists like Kelly Clarkson, Kelsea Ballerini, Sam Hunt, Walker Hayes, Old Dominion, and Midland. He and Brandy Clark also wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical Shucked.

Orville Peck

With his fringed mask and deep voice, Orville Peck delivers slow-burning country ballads that will make any cowboy shed a tear. He's released three albums, Pony, Bronco, and Stampede.

Chely Wright

Wright began her country career in the closet, and had a number one hit with "Single White Female" in 1999. But as her career grew, she decided to come out publicly in 2010 with a memoir and album entitled Lifted Off the Ground. The album dives deep into her coming out process and is one of the most beautiful country albums of the 2010s.

Lavender Country

One of the original out country artists was Lavender Country, who was formed in 1972. Their 1973 self-titled album is considered the first known gay-themed country music album. Throughout the years, Patrick Haggerty has been the one constant member of the band, with others like Michael Carr, Eve Morris, and Robert Hammerstrom making up the band's original lineup. They've been releasing new music in recent years.

Paisley Fields

Paisley Fields (he/him and she/her) had performed under that name for years before adopting it as his own more recently. "I feel like I've grown a lot in the last 10 years performing as Paisley Fields. I feel like I identify more as non-binary and I feel like Paisley is a better name for me. It just feels like it fits more naturally." He's released two albums, Glitter and Sawdust and Electric Park Ballroom.

Waylon Payne

Payne is the son of guitarist Jody Payne and country singer Sammi Smith. When he came out as gay, and also revealed that when he had been sexually abused by an uncle, he was disowned from his family. He released the album The Drifter in 2004 and has worked on songs with Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, and more.

Trixie Mattel

RuPaul's Drag Race royalty Trixie Mattel might use over-the-top camp and comedy in her drag, but her country music is also genuinely great. She's released a song with Lavender Country, and did a cover of the Johnny Cash and June Carter hit "Jackson" with Orville Peck.

Brooke Eden

After trying out for American Idol, Brooke Eden began a career in country music. She's released two EPs, Brooke Eden, and Welcome to the Weekend, and released two new songs in 2021 when she also came out as queer and announced her engagement to Hilary Hoover.

Allison Russell

Canadian artist Russell has been a member of music groups Po' Girl, Birds of Chicago, and Our Native Daughters before releasing her first solo album Outside Child in 2021. The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album and the song "Nightflyer" was nominated for two more Grammys.

Ty Herndon

Herndon is considered by most to be the first mainstream male country artist to come out as gay when he did so in 2014. Before that, he released ten studio albums from 1995-2022 and has had three number one songs on the Billboard Hot Country Chart: "What Mattered Most," "Living in a Moment," and "It Must Be Love."

Billy Gilman

In 2000, Gilman became the youngest artist ever to have a top 40 country hit when the then 11-year-old singer's "One Voice" charted in the top twenty. He was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for the song. Gilman came out as a young man after he saw country singer Ty Herndon come out in 2014. He then competed on The Voice in 2016, where he was the runner-up.

Harper Grae

Grae was on the reality show The Glee Project before breaking into the country music business. She released her first album Break Your Crowns in 2017, and after releasing several singles, put out her second album Confessions of a Good Southern Lady in 2022.

Katie Pruitt

In 2018, Rolling Stone named Pruit as one of "10 New Country Artists You Need to Know." She released her debut album Expectations in 2020. The album explored the intersection of being gay and religious and her song "Loving You" is a self-acceptance anthem about loving who you love no matter what.

Amythyst Kiah

Kiah, who plays the guitar and banjo, has released two solo albums and one EP. She was also a member of Our Native Daughters with Allison Russell. In 2020, she was nominated for a Grammy for Best American Roots Song for "Black Myself."

Joy Oladokun

Folk, Americana, R&B, and pop come together in singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun's music, which sounds like a modern Joan Armatrading or Tracy Chapman. She's released three studio albums: Carry, In Defense of My Own Happiness (The Beginnings), and In Defense of My Own Happiness.

Tanner Adell

Tanner Adell is a Black country singer who released her debut album Buckle Bunny in 2023 and was one of the singers featured on Beyoncé's album Cowboy Carter on the track "Blackbiird," a cover of the song by The Beatles. She came out as pansexual in 2025.

Beccy Cole

Australian country singer and songwriter Beccy Cole has been active since the 80s, and has won eleven Golden Guitars (the Country Music Awards of Australia), including being named Female Artist of the Year five times. She has ove a dozen songs that went number one on Australia's Country Singles chart, including her hit song "Poster Girl (Wrong Side of the World)."

Michael Waugh

Another Australian country star is Michael Waugh, who released his debut EP in 2013, and his debut album, What We Might Be, in 2016. He's been nominated for eight Country Music Awards of Australia, winning Heritage Song of the Year for his song "Dirty River."

Mya Byrne

Folk and Americana musician Mya Byrne came out as trans publicly in 2014, over a decade into her professional music career. She also is an activist and advocate for trans rights who has written for The Advocate.

River Shook

As the frontperson for the country rock band Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, nonbinary singer River Shook spent a decade touring and recording music before the band announced it was ending in 2025.

Brian Falduto

You might recognize Brian Falduto from his role as Billy (aka "Fancy Pants), the band's stylist in the film School of Rock. Now, as an adult, he's released the Country-Pop album Gay Country which includes the song "Same Old Country Love Song."

Wilma Burgess

Wilma Burgess was a pioneer for women in country, releasing her first single in 1962, and had fifteen songs on the Billboard Country & Western chart in the 60s and 70s, as well as earning two Grammy nominations. She was quiet about her sexuality while she was alive, and died in 2003 from a heart attack.

Melissa Carper

Melissa Carper is a singer, songwriter, and double bassist who has released five albums, including her most recent, Borned In Ya, since 2018. Her old-school approach to country provides an alternative to the country pop that dominates the charts.