Maren Morris marked a personal milestone last weekend as she celebrated her first Pride since coming out as bisexual last year.
During a performance at the Outloud Music Festival in West Hollywood, the 35-year-old country-pop artist addressed the crowd with a heartfelt declaration.
"My name is Maren Morris, and this is my first Pride!" she said, prompting an enthusiastic response from fans.
Morris, known for hits like "The Middle" and "My Church," came out publicly in June 2024.
In an Instagram post shared at the time, she wrote, "Happy to be the B in LGBTQ+, happy pride!"
She shared behind-the-scenes photos from her performance over the weekend, writing, "Performing at my first Pride since I came out last summer and @wehopride couldn't have been a more welcoming party. Happy Pride Month."
Support poured in from fans in the comments section. "Thank you for making my kiddo feel comfortable in their true selves," one user wrote.
Another added, "I didn't know you came out! Loved you before & love you now even more!" Musician Lance Bass also commented, "Loved it!"
In an interview with The Zoe Report last month, Morris reflected on her decision to come out. "I've always known that I am attracted to men and women," she said.
"I think because I've been in straight relationships the last 15 years of my life, which has been consumed by my music career and living in Nashville, I never felt brave enough to talk about it."
She added that the community became vital following her divorce from fellow country artist Ryan Hurd, with whom she shares a five-year-old son, Hayes. "That was just a facet of me that I didn't think I wanted private anymore," she said.
"Especially in a time where you're in this free-for-all post-divorce reckoning, community has been so necessary for me and life-saving."
Morris has also continued to clarify past comments about the country music industry, which she previously criticized as "toxic."
In a 2023 interview with The New York Times, she said she felt compelled to "absorb and explain people's bad behaviors and laugh it off."
Following the publication of a Los Angeles Times article titled "Maren Morris is getting the hell out of country music," Morris later told The Guardian that the headline was "really unfortunate."
"I never said I'm leaving country music, because that's not really how I feel at all," she said.
"You hear country music on this album. You can't just intentionally take the parts away. There would be nothing left of the sound of me. Because it's just there. It's in my bones and it's in the way I write."
Although Morris has since moved to a new label division and no longer submits her music to country music awards shows, she emphasized that she still collaborates with many of the same artists.
"The fans that I've made and the communities those fans have made through being a fan of my music is so important to me," she said.
Morris's new album, Dreamsicle, continues to blend country, pop, and personal storytelling, and has been described by the artist as a reflection of her journey, both musically and personally.
"I'd never be so reckless and stupid to say, 'I'm leaving you behind,'" she said of her fans.
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