Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne is opening up about what it means to be a gay man in country music — and the ways in which it’s influenced his songwriting.The country star, 37, discussed the effect of his coming out on both his personal and professional life in a new interview withProud Radio with Hunter Kellyon Apple Music Country.During the chat, Osborne explained why nearly all of the band’s songs (even the ones released before hecame out publicly inTimemagazinein February 2021) are “gender-neutral,” save for the track “Rum,” which was first released on their 2014 self-titled EP.“In that song, it doesn’t really reference necessarily a relationship, but it says, ‘Sitting with the finest example of a beautiful girl,'” he said. “And I liked the way that line is. I just liked the way it sounds, but I knew from then I was like, ‘I don’t ever want to say girl again in a song.'“Osborne said his reasoning was two-fold; on one hand, he finds lyrics that repeat “girl” to be something of a country cliché. And then, of course, there’s his own sexuality.“I just knew that it hit the gut in a weird way,” he said of the line in “Rum.” “Or people will pitch me songs for that. People still pitch me songs with ‘girl’ in it. I’m like, ‘What the hell? Read a book.'“He continued: “Now, if you notice, from there, every other song we had was gender-neutral. We didn’t have anything specific about that. And over the years, there’s people who would contact us. Gay couples that would get married and actually be like, ‘Man, it’s awesome. We like country music, but we can’t play any songs at our wedding because they all reference a girl or they reference particularly that.’ So that also was another part of our strategy — eventually, I’m going to come out, and I don’t want like 10 songs that say, ‘Girl’ because that’s going to seem really strange.“TJ Osborne.Lloyd Bishop/NBCUThe “Skeletons” singer came out to his friends and family years before he did the public, and said that his family, including his brother and bandmate John, has always been “very accepting,” and he never felt as though he “had to hide” who he was.“It was a bit of maybe in some ways kind of the opposite, I didn’t feel that way so I would be like, ‘Maybe I’m not gay,’ because I liked redneck stuff and I enjoyed it,” he explained. “I didn’t do it for a façade, I enjoyed fishing and I enjoyed this country lifestyle.“For a while, Osborne even questioned his own sexuality due to societal stereotypes.“For a long time I was like, I don’t know that I am [gay] because once again, [in] my mind what it was to be gay was you had to look a certain way or sound a certain way and I didn’t,” he said. “So I’m like, maybe I’m not.“The Grammy winner is currently dating boyfriend Abi Ventura, whom he brought as his date to the 2021 CMA Awards in November.In a buzz-worthy moment, the twoshared a celebratory kissafter Brothers Osborne won vocal duo of the year.Looking back, Osborne said he wasn’t doing much thinking when the kiss happened, but simply wanted to celebrate with the person he loved.Abi Ventura, TJ Osborne, John Osborne and Lucie Silvas.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic"It wasn’t until I went backstage, everyone was like, ‘Oh man, everyone’s talking about that.’ I’m like, ‘Talking about what?’ And they were like, ‘The kiss.’ I’m like, ‘What kiss are you…’ I was like, so confused,” he said. “I’m like, ‘What kiss?’ Like, ‘You kissed Abi before you went on stage.’ I still was like, ‘Well, what’s the big deal?’ I mean, we’re talking about this, but then I didn’t necessarily… After processing it, I was like, ‘Well, I guess…'“He continued: “I didn’t realize at the time how important that was for a lot of people. Because I have heard a lot of people bring that up, and it’s wonderful that they got to feel that and see that happen I suppose.“The episode will air in full on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT/4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET or on-demand atapple.co/_ProudRadioon Apple Music Country.
Brothers Osborne’s TJ Osborne is opening up about what it means to be a gay man in country music — and the ways in which it’s influenced his songwriting.
The country star, 37, discussed the effect of his coming out on both his personal and professional life in a new interview withProud Radio with Hunter Kellyon Apple Music Country.
During the chat, Osborne explained why nearly all of the band’s songs (even the ones released before hecame out publicly inTimemagazinein February 2021) are “gender-neutral,” save for the track “Rum,” which was first released on their 2014 self-titled EP.
“In that song, it doesn’t really reference necessarily a relationship, but it says, ‘Sitting with the finest example of a beautiful girl,'” he said. “And I liked the way that line is. I just liked the way it sounds, but I knew from then I was like, ‘I don’t ever want to say girl again in a song.'”
Osborne said his reasoning was two-fold; on one hand, he finds lyrics that repeat “girl” to be something of a country cliché. And then, of course, there’s his own sexuality.
“I just knew that it hit the gut in a weird way,” he said of the line in “Rum.” “Or people will pitch me songs for that. People still pitch me songs with ‘girl’ in it. I’m like, ‘What the hell? Read a book.'”
He continued: “Now, if you notice, from there, every other song we had was gender-neutral. We didn’t have anything specific about that. And over the years, there’s people who would contact us. Gay couples that would get married and actually be like, ‘Man, it’s awesome. We like country music, but we can’t play any songs at our wedding because they all reference a girl or they reference particularly that.’ So that also was another part of our strategy — eventually, I’m going to come out, and I don’t want like 10 songs that say, ‘Girl’ because that’s going to seem really strange.”
TJ Osborne.Lloyd Bishop/NBCU
The “Skeletons” singer came out to his friends and family years before he did the public, and said that his family, including his brother and bandmate John, has always been “very accepting,” and he never felt as though he “had to hide” who he was.
“It was a bit of maybe in some ways kind of the opposite, I didn’t feel that way so I would be like, ‘Maybe I’m not gay,’ because I liked redneck stuff and I enjoyed it,” he explained. “I didn’t do it for a façade, I enjoyed fishing and I enjoyed this country lifestyle.”
For a while, Osborne even questioned his own sexuality due to societal stereotypes.
“For a long time I was like, I don’t know that I am [gay] because once again, [in] my mind what it was to be gay was you had to look a certain way or sound a certain way and I didn’t,” he said. “So I’m like, maybe I’m not.”
The Grammy winner is currently dating boyfriend Abi Ventura, whom he brought as his date to the 2021 CMA Awards in November.
In a buzz-worthy moment, the twoshared a celebratory kissafter Brothers Osborne won vocal duo of the year.
Looking back, Osborne said he wasn’t doing much thinking when the kiss happened, but simply wanted to celebrate with the person he loved.
Abi Ventura, TJ Osborne, John Osborne and Lucie Silvas.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
“It wasn’t until I went backstage, everyone was like, ‘Oh man, everyone’s talking about that.’ I’m like, ‘Talking about what?’ And they were like, ‘The kiss.’ I’m like, ‘What kiss are you…’ I was like, so confused,” he said. “I’m like, ‘What kiss?’ Like, ‘You kissed Abi before you went on stage.’ I still was like, ‘Well, what’s the big deal?’ I mean, we’re talking about this, but then I didn’t necessarily… After processing it, I was like, ‘Well, I guess…'”
He continued: “I didn’t realize at the time how important that was for a lot of people. Because I have heard a lot of people bring that up, and it’s wonderful that they got to feel that and see that happen I suppose.”
The episode will air in full on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT/4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET or on-demand atapple.co/_ProudRadioon Apple Music Country.
source: people.com
