Chely Wright

During the mid-1990s Chely Wright occupied a distinctive position bridging traditional and modern country sounds, a quality that generated considerable recognition. Part of that recognition arrived when the Academy of Country Music named her Top New Female Vocalist in 1995, momentum that carried her onto the country charts as “Shut Up and Drive” climbed to number 14 in 1997 and “Single White Female” reached the summit in 1999. Commercial traction proved harder to maintain through the 2000s, yet Wright continued to place songs for other artists—most notably the number-nine hit “I Can’t Sleep,” which Clay Walker recorded after co-writing it with her—while also venturing into more daring creative territory with the 2005 album The Metropolitan Hotel. Her 2010 public declaration as a lesbian, an act without precedent in country music, arrived alongside Lifted Off the Ground, produced by Rodney Crowell; the record presented Wright as a country singer operating just outside the mainstream while preserving her personal blend of earlier and current influences.

Born in Kansas City in 1970 and raised in nearby Wellsville, Kansas, Wright displayed an early attraction to music. Piano lessons began at age four, trumpet joined the school band a few years afterward, and vocal-group singing started by age 11. Professional work arrived at 14 when she performed with the band County Line, whose bassist was her father. Between her junior and senior high-school years she appeared on the Ozark Jubilee show in Branson, Missouri; after graduation she moved to Nashville and took a job as an impersonator at the Opryland theme park. She soon settled in the city, continued working at Opryland, and focused on songwriting.

Following a publishing agreement she secured a recording contract with Mercury/Polydor. Her debut album, Woman in the Moon, appeared in 1994 and received favorable notices, helping her earn the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Female Vocalist award. Although “The Love That We Lost” nearly reached the country Top 40, the 1996 follow-up Right in the Middle of It failed to build on that interest, prompting her to request release from the label. She then signed with MCA Nashville and issued Let Me In in 1997; the album delivered her first substantial hit with “Shut Up and Drive,” which peaked at 14. While the next two singles—“Just Another Heartache” and “I Already Do”—only reached numbers 39 and 36, the project paved the way for 1999’s Single White Female. Its title track rose to number one, establishing Wright’s mainstream breakthrough, and “It Was” became another hit. In 2000 she toured as Brad Paisley’s opening act; the pair co-wrote “Hard to Be a Husband, Hard to Be a Wife,” which they performed at the Grand Ole Opry’s 75th-anniversary gala.

Never Love You Enough, released in 2001, performed solidly after Single White Female, entering Billboard’s Country Album chart at number four and yielding two Top 30 singles: the title track at 26 and “Jezebel” at 23. Wright left MCA in 2003 and concentrated on behind-the-scenes songwriting, achieving her greatest success when Clay Walker’s 2004 recording of the co-written “I Can’t Sleep” reached the Top Ten. She issued the EP Everything on her own Painted Red Music imprint in 2004, leading to a Dualtone contract and the release of The Metropolitan Hotel in 2005.

After that album Wright entered a lengthy hiatus, returning in 2010 with the memoir Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer, which disclosed her identity as a lesbian; the 2011 documentary Wish Me Away traced her coming-out process. Issued alongside the book was the new album Lifted Off the Ground, produced by country maverick Rodney Crowell and released on Vanguard. In 2016 she delivered I Am the Rain, produced by Joe Henry; the album debuted at number 13 on Billboard’s Country Album chart, her strongest placement since The Metropolitan Hotel reached 18.

She reactivated her Painted Red label in 2018 for the holiday EP Santa Will Find You. A further EP, Revival, followed in March 2019.