Country Star T.J. Osborne of Brothers Osborne Comes Out as Gay

Brothers Osborne‘s lead singer T.J. Osborne is coming out.

The 36-year-old singer-songwriter, who was already out to close friends and family, opened up publicly for the first time about his sexuality in an interview with Time.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Brothers Osborne

“I’m very comfortable being gay. I find myself being guarded for not wanting to talk about something that I personally don’t have a problem with. That feels so strange,” he explained.

“People will ask, ‘Why does this even need to be talked about?’ and personally, I agree with that. But for me to show up at an awards show with a man would be jaw-dropping to people. It wouldn’t be like, ‘Oh, cool!” he went on to say.

“I don’t think I’m going to get run off the stage in Chicago. But in a rural town playing a county fair? I’m curious how this will go.”

His brother, guitarist John Osborne, explained that he was emotional when his brother finally told him.

“He was very open and candid about it, and I was emotional, because my brother was finally able to be completely honest with me about who he was. How often, in life, do we hold back parts of ourselves and wish that we didn’t?” John said of T.J.

“If I had to have all my money and success erased for my brother to be truly fulfilled in life, I wouldn’t even think about it. Not for a second.”

The brothers made sure to make their music inclusive ever since T.J. came out to him, including their music video for “Stay a Little Longer,” which featured a gay couple. Their song “21 Summer” is also about a relationship T.J. had with a man, which wasn’t public until now.

“I want to get to the height of my career being completely who I am. I mean, I am who I am, but I’ve kept a part of me muted, and it’s been stifling,” T.J. went on to say.

Another entertainer recently made headlines for coming out as part of the LGBTQ community.