Lil Nas X has made history as the first openly gay man to be nominated for a Country Music Award.
Not bad for a 20-year-old.
He was nominated alongside four other artists for the musical event of the year award, which also included Maren Morris’ All My Favorite People, Brand New Man by Brooks and Dunn, Dive Bar by Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton, and Brantly Gilbert and Lindsay Ell’s What Happens In A Small Town.
Taking to Twitter after the nomination, he shared his thank yous to the academy.
The song was originally kicked off the US Billboard country charts because the company said the song ‘does not embrace enough elements of today’s country music’ thanks to its mix of country and hip hop.
However, it made its way back into the charts after a remixed version featuring Billy Ray Cyrus was released.
The star recently appeared on the cover of Time magazine, and looked pretty suave when doing so in a bright red suit and his iconic cowboy hat – but while having all the fun with his outfit, he got pretty candid when taking some time to address his sexuality.
The 20-year-old confessed that he’d kept his cards close to his chest when being told that homosexuality would ‘never be okay’, admitting to the magazine: ‘I know the people who listen to this the most, and they’re not accepting of homosexuality.’
However, after seeing the celebrations of Pride, it seems the Old Town Road hitmaker felt compelled to come out and added: ‘I never would have done that if I wasn’t in a way pushed by the universe.
‘In June, I’m seeing Pride flags everywhere and seeing couples holding hands. Little stuff like that.’
Lil Nas made the announcement on Twitter where he shared a picture of the rainbow flag with the words: ‘Thought I’d made it obvious’.
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