Chely Wright Bio
Chely Wright (born Richell Rene Wright; 25 October 1970) is an American country music artist, activist, author, and corporate diversity executive. She rose to commercial prominence in the late 1990s with charting singles including the number-one country hit “Single White Female,” and has released albums spanning country, Americana, and folk. After privately struggling with her sexual identity, Wright publicly came out as a gay woman in 2010, publishing the memoir Like Me and the album Lifted Off the Ground. She has since become an outspoken LGBT activist and founded the LikeMe charitable organization. Wright has received industry recognition, worked in corporate diversity roles, and is the mother of twin sons born in 2013.
Early Life and Background
Chely Wright was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1970, and was raised in the nearby community of Wellsville, Kansas. She was the youngest of three children born to Stan Wright and Cheri Wright. Her parents’ marriage was unhappy, partly due to her father’s drinking, which caused the family to temporarily separate while Wright was a small child. She lived with her mother and two siblings in Ottawa, Kansas, before her mother and father reunited. Wright had a strained relationship with her mother throughout her life, writing in her 2010 memoir that they were not close friends but that she liked her mother.
Wright became interested in her Christian faith and convinced her mother to become baptized when she was six years old. She also discovered her homosexuality after noticing she had a crush on her third grade teacher. However, church teachings taught her that homosexuality was considered sinful, a belief that shaped her early sense of self. She prayed daily for her homosexual thoughts to be taken away and attempted to find others in her hometown who shared her feelings, but found none. In her memoir, she described blaming negative events on her sexual orientation, including when her brother broke a bone and the death of her cousin, David.
Wright developed a passion for music at a young age. Both of her parents enjoyed country music and encouraged her appreciation of the genre. Her father played acoustic guitar, while she often sang along. Her mother kept handwritten lyrics to her favorite songs in a binder. The family often entertained guests on Saturday evenings with “pickin’ parties,” and Wright regularly sang along. At age four, she began taking piano lessons, and in her elementary years she played trumpet in her school band. As a preteen, she started performing in singing groups and began appearing at local venues such as VFW halls, picnics, bars, and churches.
Path to Country Music
At age 14, Wright started her own country music band called County Line, which included her father as their bass player. The summer of her final year in high school, she worked as a performing musician at the Ozark Jubilee, a long-running country music show in Branson, Missouri. In Branson, she rented a small trailer and bought her first car for $600. She also began dating a college-aged man whom she met in the audience of her shows, though Wright realized she could not form the ideal romantic relationship with him.
In 1989, Wright landed a position in a musical production at Opryland USA, a now-defunct theme park in Nashville, Tennessee. She became good friends with several cast members, learned to sing as part of a vocal chorus, and learned dance routines. Her contract only lasted one season, and she later moved into the basement of a friend’s home closer to Nashville while working at a local sporting goods store. During the summer of 1990, she was re-hired for a second season at Opryland and started taking classes at Middle Tennessee State University.
Wright was signed to a publishing deal as a songwriter, which helped secure a recording contract as a recording artist with PolyGram/Mercury Records in 1993. Wright chose to keep her sexuality hidden from her record label and buying public, a theme that continued throughout her commercial career. She collaborated on her first album with Nashville producer Harold Shedd, who agreed that her persona would not be centered around being a music video personality but rather regarded for her artistic work.
Chely Wright Career
Early Career (1993–1996)
Wright’s debut studio album, Woman in the Moon, was released in 1994 through PolyGram/Mercury Records. The album received critical acclaim despite limited commercial success. It spawned three singles, including “He’s a Good Ole Boy,” “Till I Was Loved by You,” and “Sea of Cowboy Hats,” all of which peaked outside the top 40 of the Billboard country chart. The album helped Wright win Top New Female Vocalist at the 1995 Academy of Country Music Awards, an accolade she later recalled as a shock because she had not prepared a speech.
In 1996, Wright released her second album, Right in the Middle of It, which she said was crafted with care even when songs strayed from a traditional country sound. The album was produced by Ed Seay along with Harold Shedd. PolyGram/Mercury was hopeful of its success, and the album sold 42,000 copies in its initial release, with its first music video receiving regular airtime on Country Music Television. Despite critical praise, only two of its three singles charted, and the highest-peaking single, “The Love That We Lost,” reached only the top 50. Wright was then given permission to leave her contract and began exploring new options for commercial stardom.
Breakthrough (1997–2003)
Free from her previous record label, Wright began working with a new manager, Clarence Spalding, and a publicist, Wes Vause, who helped secure a contract with MCA Records Nashville. She then contacted producer Tony Brown, who had previously made hit albums with Reba McEntire and Wynonna. In 1997, Let Me In was released on MCA. The album was her first to reach the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, peaking at number 25 and spending 44 weeks there. It also entered the Billboard 200 for seven weeks and spawned her first major hit, “Shut Up and Drive,” which peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
In 1999, Wright recorded “Single White Female,” which producers Tony Brown, Buddy Cannon, and Norro Wilson believed could be a hit. The song reached number one on the Billboard country chart and the RPM country chart in Canada. Wright celebrated the milestone with fellow band members Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney, who would later form Rascal Flatts. Her fourth studio album, also titled Single White Female, was released the same year and eventually sold 500,000 copies, certifying gold from the Recording Industry Association of America.
In 2001, Wright released Never Love You Enough, which climbed to number four on the Top Country Albums chart. The album received mixed reviews, and its two singles reached only the top 30, with the highest-charting hit, “Jezebel,” reaching number 23. That same year, Wright embarked on “The Coca-Cola Hometown Hero Tour,” a 30-date set of concerts, and made her acting debut in the Disney film Max Keeble’s Big Move. In 2002, she won the “Fashion Plate Award” from the CMT Flameworthy Awards and was named among People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.” In 2003, Wright left MCA Records.
Notable Works and Milestones
Wright’s signature work is the 1999 album Single White Female, anchored by the chart-topping title track and certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her memoir Like Me: Confessions of a Heartland Country Singer and her album Lifted Off the Ground, both released on May 4, 2010, marked a defining dramatic moment in her career and her personal life. The 2016 album I Am the Rain was her highest-charting album in ten years, reaching number 13 on the Billboard country albums list.
Chely Wright Award Nominations
Chely Wright has received multiple career nominations across the country music and LGBT advocacy communities. These include three nominations from the Country Music Association Awards, two nominations from the GLAAD Media Awards, and an Emmy Award nomination for her documentary Wish Me Away. Her 2010 duet recording with Brad Paisley was also nominated for an accolade by the Country Music Association.
Chely Wright Awards Won
Chely Wright has been recognized with one win from the Academy of Country Music Awards, where she was named Top New Female Vocalist in 1995. Her documentary Wish Me Away received an accolade from the Los Angeles Film Festival. In 2002, Wright received the National Association for Music Education’s “FAME Award” in recognition of her accomplishments with the Reading, Writing and Rhythm non-profit organization. In 2003, she was named “Woman of the Year” by the American Legion Auxiliary.
Chely Wright Family
Wright was born to Stan Wright and Cheri Wright and was the youngest of three children. Her parents’ marriage was strained, partly due to her father’s drinking, leading the family to temporarily separate. Wright wrote in her 2010 memoir that she had a complicated relationship with her mother, saying, “I wouldn’t say we were friends or buddies, but I liked my Mom.” Both of her parents enjoyed country music and supported her early musical interests, with her father playing acoustic guitar and her mother keeping handwritten lyrics to her favorite songs in a binder.
Personal Life
On May 3, 2010, People magazine reported that Chely Wright had publicly come out as a gay woman. Two weeks later, she met fellow LGBT activist and Sony Music marketing director Lauren Blitzer. The couple announced their engagement on April 6, 2011, and married on August 20, 2011, in a private ceremony on a country estate in Connecticut, officiated by both a rabbi and a reverend. On January 23, 2013, the couple announced that Chely was expecting identical twins, and in May 2013, Wright gave birth to two twin boys named George and Everett, both named after their great-grandfathers. In 2018, Wright suffered a stroke and made the news public a year later to encourage others to seek medical attention for similar symptoms. She later served as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer for the interior space company Unispace and joined ISS A/S in 2025 as senior vice president of corporate social responsibility.