These LGBTQ Artists Are Pioneers In The Music Industry

Billy Gillman Breaks The Country Music Star Stereotype

Photo credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for GLAAD

Not a whole lot of country artists are openly gay. Billy Gilman told fans in a 2014 video message that he was gay. He said, “It’s difficult for me to make this video, not because I’m ashamed of being a gay male artist, or a gay artist or a gay person, but it’s pretty silly to know that I’m ashamed of doing this knowing that I’m in a genre and an industry that’s ashamed of me for being me.”

His admission didn’t hurt his career — he later won Mainstream Artist of the Year at the American Music Guild’s Heritage Awards.