I’d cry when I’d sing the songs and fall apart, but it was part of the process.” “I don’t even know what people must have thought,” she recalled. She remembers playing many of the new songs in little clubs in 2006, two years after her last charting country single. Wright timed the memoir to coincide with a new album, Lifted Off the Ground, released by Vanguard Records and produced by Rodney Crowell. More than anything, I wanted to make certain that people knew he was not aware.” It’s one of the great regrets of my life, and I needed to write that down. “At that time, I caused incredible hurt and pain to Brad. “I wanted to make certain that everyone understood that when a person like me hides, they not only wreak havoc on themselves, but they damage other people around them,” she said. She emphasized that Paisley did not know that she was a lesbian and that he was not involved in a cover-up. It was widely known in public that Brad and I had a relationship.” In my opinion, I obviously had to write about Brad because I couldn’t call him ’Josh.’ I couldn’t call him ’Josh Brown’ or ’Josh Sampson’ in this book. I don’t really think Brad is a big part of this book, but I do think there has been a lot of coverage about him being in this book. Although she remains well-liked in the Nashville music community, Wright was slammed by some country fans for trying to capitalize on Paisley’s current stardom.Īsked why it was important to give him such a big role in the book, she replied, “I think there’s a difference in a lot of the coverage being about Brad, versus Brad being a ’big part’ of this book. Not surprisingly, when Like Me was published, most media coverage zoomed directly onto her candid admissions about that doomed relationship. Around this time, she cut all ties with him without ever giving him a reason why. But as Paisley’s career quickly ascended, Wright’s faltered.
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Their duet, “Hard to Be a Husband, Hard to Be a Wife,” recorded live at the Grand Ole Opry, charted in 2000. 1 hit in 1999 with “He Didn’t Have to Be.”
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“Single White Female” topped the country chart in 1999.Īlthough she privately battled an on-again, off-again relationship with her partner of 12 years, the singer briefly dated Brad Paisley, who also landed his first No. Wright notched nine Top 40 hits with MCA, including “Shut Up and Drive,” “It Was” You are among the greatest artists of all time in country music. You know, after awards shows when we would have our parties, I would look around and see George Strait, Reba McEntire, the Mavericks, Trisha Yearwood, Vince Gill. “At that time, MCA was the label, and Tony Brown was the guy. “It was never lost on me the talent that surrounded me and the roster that I was so lucky to be a part of,” she said. Finally, she found her way to MCA Records in 1997 when the label’s A&R department was helmed by superstar producer Tony Brown. With performing experience from a popular stage show at the Opryland USA theme park, she eventually signed with Polydor Records, enjoyed minor chart success with her first singles and surprisingly won the ACM trophy for top new female artist. Like thousands of other hopeful country singers, the ambitious 19-year-old from Wellsville, Kan., wanted a record deal.
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Wright still remembers the precise day she moved to Nashville - May 12, 1989. “I’m not saying I won’t spoof it on occasion,” she explained, “but I’m going to sing my songs proudly the way my fans know them.” However, during a recent visit to the CMT offices, she confidently declared that she’ll still deliver the line just like it was written.
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That lyric may seem ironic after Wright, 39, came out as a lesbian in her memoir, Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer, published last month by Random House. The hook goes like this: “A single white female is looking for a man like you.” In Chely Wright’s signature song, “Single White Female,”Ī woman places a classified ad to capture the attention of a stranger in a coffee shop who laughs at the personals every morning.