Hayden Joseph is out to prove country music industry executives wrong when it comes to the lack of diversity in the genre. On his Tik Tok account, Joseph talks about how bro-country has become the standard of country radio. As an openly gay singer and songwriter, Joseph details his experience in submitting his song “The Only One Who’s Prayin’ ” to an established country music organization and the feedback he received.
The song, as Joseph explains, is about a guy who’s looking for love and how his mom prays he will find someone. In a video on his Tik Tok, Joseph shows a screenshot of the feedback email he received from the organization, which says that either Joseph’s song needs to sung by a woman or it can’t be about a guy looking for love.
@haydenjosephmusic Let’s open up country music together. #Nashvilleforeveryone #countrymusic #gay #lgbt #womenincountry #fyp #greenscreenvideo
The email goes on to say that if a guy sang “The Only One Who’s Prayin’”, it would be taken negatively like the guy was a sissy (this was the exact word used in the email). Joseph concluded the video by responding to the “sissy” comment:
“This shit has to stop. Emotions have a place in country music. Gay people have a place in country music. Women have a place in country music. All races have a place in country music. Everybody has a place in country music, but the only way to fix this problem is to start supporting people that want to say something different.”
On Wednesday, January 27, Joseph performed “The Only One Who’s Prayin’” on his Tik Tok account, and the video to date has received over 19,000 likes. Joseph posted a video the following day expressing his gratitude for all the people who liked his Tik Tok performance.
@haydenjosephmusic I think the industry execs are wrong… what do you think? #country #countrymusic #gay #lgbt #nashville #fyp #singer #nashvilleforeveryone
You can hear the studio version of “The Only One Who’s Prayin’ “ below and if you want to find out more about Hayden Joseph and his music, go to his Tik Tok page or YouTube channel.
Let us know what you think in the comments or on our social media accounts.
Sources: Hayden Joseph Tik Tok Account, Hayden Joseph YouTube Channel, Taste of Country, Hayden Joseph Music Instagram Page,
