Patrick Haggerty, the founder of Lavender Country, generally believed to as the first openly LGBT country music band passed away at the age of 78.
Tuesday saw a statement from the Lavender Country Instagram accounts confirming Haggerty’s passing.
“An outstanding soul left us this morning. Pat Haggerty, rest in peace “Along with a picture of the singer singing, the statement read. “After having a stroke a few weeks ago, he was fortunate to spend his last days at home with his children and longtime partner, JB.”
The statement ended with the words “Love, and solidarity.”
In 1973, Haggerty, Michael Carr, Eve Morris, and Robert Hammerstrom of the band Lavender Country put out their self-titled debut record. The album was the first overtly gay-themed one in the history of country music and featured songs like “Come Out Singing” and “Cryin’ These Cocksucking Tears.”
Haggerty made a statement with Lavender Country by refusing to follow the heteronormative norms of the moment.
He said to CNN in March, “When we made ‘Lavender Country,’ we weren’t foolish. “No genre was going to listen to what I had to say,” he said.
The band later had the chance to rerelease the record in 2014. Then, in February almost 50 years later, Haggerty issued Blackberry Rose, his second Lavender Country record.
The same thing that initially caused me to sink is also the same thing that has put me in this situation, he said to CNN.
Haggerty was raised on a farm close to Port Angeles, Washington, where he was born on September 27, 1944. He was the son of a dairy farmer and a homemaker and the sixth of ten children. He complimented his parents for being accepting of him despite the fact that he was gay from a young age.
He later enlisted in the Peace Corps in his early 20s but was expelled because of his sexual orientation. He later discovered family in the LGBTQ+ community in Seattle, and they urged him to record an album, which ultimately led him to the band.
He would promote HIV/AIDS awareness, LGBTQ causes, and Black Americans’ civil rights when Lavender Country was released. Additionally, he wed JB, and the two of them had two kids.
He admitted to CNN in March that he “stuffed up my life with all kinds of exciting and engaging activities that were meaningful to me and didn’t have anything to do with music.”
Later, he shared the stage with gay country musicians like Orville Peck and Trixie Mattel. Peck described Haggerty as the “grandfather of the queer country” after hearing of his passing.
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He “pioneered a movement and a message in Country that was nearly unheard of,” said Peck, along with pictures of the two performing together. He was one of the funniest, boldest, and sweetest beings I’ve ever met. “A real unique legend.”
Haggerty claimed at the conclusion that he never intended to become a classic country star and that he was pleased with the way his trip had transpired.
He earlier admitted to CNN that he had always secretly desired to be a hambone. However, I now have the opportunity to use my hambone ness to promote social change and fight for a better society.