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Brothers Osborne: ‘Fame Doesn’t Strip Us Of Our Right To Free Speech’

The Brothers Osborne recently made national headlines when T.J. Osborne came out as a gay man and the country music community rallied around him. The brothers have never been the…

Brothers Osborne Say 'Fame Doesn't Strip Us Of Our Right To Free Speech'
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The Brothers Osborne recently made national headlines when T.J. Osborne came out as a gay man and the country music community rallied around him.

The brothers have never been the type to shy away from tough subject matters or political ones when asked by fans or on their social media. John Osborne told us, "I think what a lot of people don't realize is that when an artist does speak up, especially if it's not in the favor of the popular opinion of their demographic, we know that it isn't going to help us as far as maybe making as much money, but I think the biggest thing you're always afraid of is being a pigeon, is being a sell out."

He added, "I respect opposing opinions and in country music, that's the thing is that they're very opinionated people who are very outspoken and constantly are the voices for the unheard. We know that there is a lot of country listeners that maybe don't agree with what the loudest voices in our genre sometimes are. And we just want to speak up for them and know that they're being heard and that we're a champion for them."

T.J. added, "I don't really view a lot of our opinions to be political. We only really speak up when it just is a difference between just sheer morality of right and wrong. And there's just some things where I'm like, you know, this is just hard to be quiet. At the end of the day, we are people, even though we might have some fame and notoriety that doesn't strip us of our right to free speech."

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.