T.J. Osborne of Brothers Osborne comes out as gay: 'My happiness is more valuable than anything else'

Brothers Osborne singer T.J. Osborne is opening up about his sexuality. In an interview with Time, the 36-year-old singer came out as gay, and he spoke about why he is ready to tell the world now.

“I’m very comfortable being gay,” T.J. told the outlet. “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 continued, “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!’"

The seven-time Grammy nominee said that his sexuality is “a very small detail” about him, and he wants to put coming out behind him. "There are times when I think I've marginalized this part of me so that I feel better about it," he said. "And I realize that it is a big part of who I am: The way I think, the way I act, the way I perform. God, think of all the times that we talk about love and write about love. It's the biggest thing we ever get to feel. And I've kept the veil on [it]."

"At this point, my happiness is more valuable than anything else I'd ever be able to achieve," he added.

The “Stay a Little Longer” singer said that he just wants to be able to be himself. "I want to get to the height of my career being completely who I am," he said. "I mean, I am who I am, but I've kept a part of me muted, and it's been stifling."

T.J. told his brother John that he was gay around the time the pair moved to Nashville after signing their record deal. "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," John told the outlet. "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."

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After the Time story was published, John took to Instagram to share a video, discussing how it’s “an honour” to call T.J. his brother, especially after this important moment in his life. "I'm very proud of my brother today. He's taken one of the most important steps of his entire life and he's doing it in front of the world," John said. "He's always had my support and he will continue to have my support. It's an honour to call my brother. He's a beautiful, amazing humanbeing." 

T.J. also shared a video on Instagram, captioning it, "This story always seemed too mountainous to tell but now that it's been told I am at a loss for words as to how clear the path was all along."

"I'm very proud to put this out there. I want you all that have known me throughout the years that the person you know is me and now you just know more about me," he said in the video. "I think that's so important in so many ways. I know I just want to help my relationship with my fans and my family, and, honestly, it's to help my relationship with myself."

T.J., who is the first openly gay man signed to a major country label, appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (weekdays at 3 p.m. ET/PT on CTV) after the article was published to talk about the process of sharing the news with the world and why he chose to come out now.

“Even though I was coming out, it still felt really odd to say it then,” he said. “I think that’s the beautiful thing about this for me: I’ve never really come out to very many people, mainly because I just find it really awkward and uncomfortable. And so it’s been a really wild experience to have come out to very few people — although a lot of my friends and family knew already — and then to come out publicly in one big fell swoop. In some ways, it’s nice, but it’s made for a very emotional day.”

Many of T.J.'s fellow country stars are celebrating him living his truth and let the singer know they support him.

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