After releasing eight studio albums and charting more than fifteen singles on the country charts Chely Wright has sold over 1,000,000 records in the United States. Chely Wright’s first Top 40 Country hit came in 1997 with “Shut Up and Drive” followed by her number one single, “Single White Female.”

Upon the release of her 2010 critically-acclaimed seventh album, Lifted Off the Ground, and her memoir, Like Me, the award-winning country artist and songwriter stunned the conservative Country music world and made history by becoming the first major Country music performer to publicly come out as gay. Wright has cited among her reasons for coming out a concern with bullying and hate crimes toward LGBT people, particularly LGBT youth, and the damage to her life caused by “hiding.”

The 2011 autobiography Like Me details her personal story of her rise to fame while being a closeted lesbian and the difficult and life-changing decision she made to come out. “I needed to show folks how low I got—this was do or die for me,” Chely Wright has said, discussing the opening scene of her memoir, Like Me, in which she describes the moment she nearly took her own life with a 9-millimeter gun.

In the midst of a tumultuous political climate that has incited polarizing debates about the civil rights of the LGBT community, the 2011 documentary Wish Me Away was released to film festivals and won awards in Nashville, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. The film documents both the public and very private moments of Chely’s life as she bravely chose to risk all that was important to her—family, relationships, career, success, fans, and image—to live her authentic life. The documentary charts her pursuit and rise to fame in Nashville, a hidden network of secrets and lies, her emotional unraveling and eventual rebirth.

Chely Wright’s soul-searching has led to many rewards. The newly-minted LGBT role model serves as the national spokesperson for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and speaks out against school bullying. Wright believes “that to whom much is given, much is required. I have lived a very blessed life and I know what it feels like to achieve goals. I want to do my part in helping others have as many opportunities to have milestones in their lives too.”

Wright also founded the LIKE ME^® Organization, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance, resources and education to LGBT individuals and their family and friends. LIKE ME^® will also be opening The Lighthouse, an education and community center for gay youth in Kansas City, MO. The Lighthouse will provide education and support during the coming-out process for the gay youth and their family and friends. Through education and raising awareness, the center will help to stem the tide of teen gay suicide in the area.

Chely Wright recently wed activist and author, Lauren Blitzer, who is currently development director for Faith in America

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