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Country star Maren Morris enters “liberating” new era of music & life after coming out
Blasted as a "lunatic country music person" due to her support for LGBTQ+ rights, Maren Morris can finally be herself after coming out.
This profile is part of Queerty’s 2024 Out For Good series, recognizing public figures who’ve had the courage to come out and make a difference in the past year, in celebration of National Coming Out Day on October 11.
Name: Maren Morris, 34.
Bio: Morris found music at an early age in her hometown of Arlington, Texas. Her parents, who owned a local salon, recognized her raw talent and helped Morris pursue singing professionally, driving the then-11-year-old to gigs around the state.
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After a handful of independent albums (and rejection from every singing competition show in the book), Morris bet on herself in her early 20s, moving to Nashville at the encouragement of fellow Texan Kacey Musgraves. Morris quickly snagged a songwriting deal, and began writing for the likes of Tim McGraw and Kelly Clarkson.
Her big break came with “My Church,” a romping tune about the spiritual qualities of country radio. The powerful track felt too personal to give away, and she was encouraged by producer Busbee to release it on her own. The song led to the release of Morris’ debut album Hero, her first Grammy Award, and a rising profile in country music.
In 2018, she lended her vocals to Zedd and Grey’s “The Middle,” crossing into pop and scoring a top-5 Billboard Hot 100 hit.
Morris’ chameleonic ability to shift between genres was further reflected on her followup albums–2019’s Girl and 2022’s Humble Quest—and work with the folksy female supergroup, The Highwomen, alongside Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires.
Nevertheless, Morris’ music is only part of her story. Throughout her career, she’s advocated for Black musicians who oft face inequalities in country music, as well as LGBTQ+ people. After calling out singer Jason Aldean’s wife for transphobic comments in 2022, Morris was branded a “lunatic country music person” by Fox News host Tucker Carlson—a slogan she printed on merch in support of GLAAD.
Morris married songwriter Ryan Hurd in 2018, four years after they met co-writing Tim McGraw track “Last Turn Home.” In 2020, the two welcomed their first son, Hayes. But Morris filed for divorce in 2023 after five years of marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
The transition laid the groundwork for a new chapter in Morris’ music, including a conscious decision to distance herself from country music, as well as a new era in her personal life.
Coming Out: Morris came out as bisexual at the beginning of Pride Month, sharing some concert snaps of her holding a rainbow flag with the simple caption, “Happy to be the B in LGBTQ+. Happy Pride.”
As Morris later explained to Sophia Bush on the Work in Progress podcast, she wanted the moment to be “lighthearted” and straightforward rather than in a “stupid press release or whatever.”
“I felt like I wanted to celebrate it,” Morris said. “And just for myself, I just wanted to have everything out there… I think those are things that should be forward-facing for me. Like, do you, but for me… my life is so open now. I’m not hiding any portion of myself.”
The comments on her coming-out post were flooded with support from fans and friends, including Chely Wright, one of country’s first openly queer female performers. Morris told People the reactions were “really encouraging” and joked that many people probably weren’t too “surprised.”
“There’s so many things I have said that could be polarizing, and this just felt like if it connects with somebody or feels like they feel a little bit braver, knowing artists that they admire or love [identify as LGBTQ+] too, that’s obviously an amazing byproduct of being honest with yourself,” she said.
Shot of Courage: Morris coming out was inspired, in part, by the freedom she felt writing “Push Me Over,” her first song about being attracted to a woman.
The sexy and pulsating tune was co-written with Tobias Jesso Jr. and MUNA months before her coming-out, over what Morris called “a week of horny songs and fiction.”
The single’s lyrics leave little to the imagination: “Necklace rests just so, on your collarbone / Makes me want to know / How your perfume smells on me later,” she sings, before confessing in the chorus, “Want you in my bed / ‘Cause I don’t need more friends.”
According to Morris, the queer pop trio was “the perfect group of people to write that song with” and it came together “almost suspiciously easy.”
The anthemic WLW bop would later appear on her EP Intermission (which dropped in August), and gave Morris “the little shot of courage [she] needed” to come out before its release.
And while the 34-year-old thinks “country music and [her] upbringing” will always reflect in her songwriting, the pop-leaning “Push Me Over” is part of a new period in which she feels “truly liberated in myself and in my work.” (Scoping out both men and women on celebrity dating-app Raya has helped, too!)
“I’m in a stage where I’ve been through some really painful changes and now there’s nothing that really scares me anymore,” she told USA Today. “I don’t have to worry about any person to hurt; I’m not trying to protect anyone. I’m only worried about my own lens, which is really liberating.”
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