DIVA caught up with the country singer to find out more about queer love, line-dancing and making dreams come true
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGES PROVIDED
The first time Brooke Eden kissed a girl was at a country concert. She laughs as she tells me about how her line dancing community were the first people to see her queerness. Contrary to what you may think, Brooke reveals that she’s felt nothing but love from these traditionally pretty “redneck” spaces. “There’s something about the line dancing community that feels like a family,” Brooke says. “It’s a bond, a bit like the LGBTQIA+ community.”
American country singer Brooke Eden has been bringing queerness to the country scene ever since she came out in 2021. The rising star has been awarded accolades such as CMT’s Next Women of Country as well as being nominated for GLAAD’s Outstanding Breakthrough Artist in 2023. She’s recently got the sapphic community dancing with the release of her track Giddy Up, and is ready to bring queer line dancing to the masses.
Brooke knew that she wanted to be a singer from a very young age. She started singing in her dad’s local country line dancing band when she was five years old. They played in little country bars and honky tonks around Florida. It was the first time she had been paid for singing, earning $300 in tips one night. This was the moment Brooke knew that music was something that she could do for the rest of her life. By 12, she was opening for Alan Jackson, and the rest is history.
When many queer people think of country music, acceptance and diversity are perhaps not the first thing that comes to mind. While Brooke admits that being queer in country has been a “taboo” for a long time, she has been blown away by the way that the industry has changed. “Have you ever been to a Shania Twain concert? I’ve never seen more gay people in my life!” she jokes.
Brooke admits that when she came into the industry, she was in denial that she was queer. “They told me that if I wanted to keep my career, then I needed to stay in the closet,” she reveals. But Brooke knew she couldn’t stay in the closet forever, and she came out in 2021. Since then, she has cultivated a queer country community in Nashville where they “support the shit out of each other”.
After coming out, Brooke was inundated with fans letting her know how much her coming out had helped them. People finally felt seen in country music. “My mission in country music is to create those bridges and to just normalise same-sex love and normalise queer people being in country.”
Since coming out, Brooke’s career has been marked by incredible moments. She reminisces on performing a special sapphic version of She’s In Love With The Boy on stage with Trisha Yearwood. Earlier this year, Brooke also got to play at World Pride in Washington, DC. I ask what her younger self would think of this moment in her career. “I think she would ask: ‘How did this end up working out?’ I remember having panic attacks when I was younger because I had a crush on a girl,” she tells me. “I think seeing me perform at World Pride, she would have 150 pounds of weight off her shoulders. Just knowing that everything was going to be okay.”
In dark times for LGBTQIA+ rights around the world, I ask what advice Brooke would give to queer people who want to get into country. “Whether you’re gay or straight, this town will try to change you,” she says. “They’ll try to mould you into who they want you to be. Come here in such self-assuredness that you know who you are and what you want to say.”
You can listen to Giddy Up now.
DIVA magazine celebrates 31 years in print in 2025. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA+ media and keepus going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
