Lil Nas X makes history as first openly gay man to receive Country Music Award nomination
Lil Nas X poses in the Press Room during the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards. (Jim Spellman/WireImage)
Lil Nas X has made history by being the first-ever openly gay man to be nominated for a Country Music Award (CMA).
He was nominated for the Musical Event of the Year award for his song ‘Old Town Road (Remix)’ with collaborator Bill Ray Cyrus, with the awards ceremony taking place on November 13.
Although ‘Old Town Road’ was originally booted off the US Billboard country charts because the company said the song “does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music”, it made its way back into the charts after a remixed version featuring Cyrus was released.
The song then became the longest-running US number one of all time.
Country music has a reputation for being conservative, and the musician has previously spoken out about anti-LGBT+ stigma in country music, explaining: “Within the country and hip-hop communities, it’s not really accepting in either.”
He tweeted: “Thank you guys for this nomination!!”
thank you guys for this nomination!! https://t.co/YFMudfHWQI
— ☆ (@LilNasX) August 28, 2019
The CMA nomination means Lil Nas X has made history twice this week, after becoming the first openly LGBT+ artist to take home Song of the Year at the VMAs on Monday, August 26.
Dressed in a red cowboy suit, he took to the stage with Cyrus to collect his first-ever award for his chart topping single.
The singer thanked Cyrus in his speech for helping him take his career to “the next level” and then he pulled out a fake scroll and became an instant meme on social media.
Congrats to @LilNasX and @BillyRayCyrus for winning Song of the Year! Can't nobody tell them nothin'! #VMAs 🤠🙌 pic.twitter.com/OxpLFbaufL— MTV (@MTV) August 27, 2019
The awards highlight how much has changed for Lil Nas X in a year.
Last month the singer revealed that a year ago he had no money and was struggling to get his music played.
wow man last year i was sleeping on my sisters floor, had no money, struggling to get plays on my music, suffering from daily headaches, now i’m gay.— ☆ (@LilNasX) July 28, 2019
He wrote on Twitter: “Wow man last year i was sleeping on my sisters floor, had no money, struggling to get plays on my music, suffering from daily headaches, now i’m gay.”
