Latest news with #PushMeOver
Sydney Morning Herald
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘You need to let people know where you stand': Maren Morris on being country music's most outspoken star
'Sitting on the fence feels good between my legs' sings Maren Morris on Push Me Over, the best song on the country star's new album Dreamsicle. Co-written and produced by the queer pop band MUNA, the song is a flirtatious statement of intent for Morris, who publicly came out as bisexual last June. For someone who's made a career out of righteously aggravating country music's conservative base, it's also typically provocative. Singing so slyly about same-sex lust in Nashville, the heart of the country music establishment, where Christian values still reign supreme: does it still feel taboo? 'I mean, less so than it used to. But maybe that's just because I've removed myself a bit from the machine of all that,' says Morris from her home in Nashville. Despite the assumptions of outside onlookers, Nashville is more than just the 'mechanism of mainstream country music,' the 35-year-old says. 'It is that, but there's also so much diversity here and it's always been that way. It's a progressive dot in the middle of a really conservative state, and it has to be because it's a music town. It has to lend itself to open-minded ideals, because we're making music here and we're empaths and we feel deeply.' It's why Morris has never left the city, even if country music's more conservative forces have tried hard to excommunicate her. 'There's a heartbeat here that's very free and accepts people, and that's why I've chosen to remain here and make this my home. I have my community here that I love, but I also want to help make it better and redefine what people maybe think of the South or of country music.' The same sentiment that seeps through Chappell Roan's The Giver, her '90s-flecked country hit about sapphic generosity, lives in Morris' Push Me Over. More than just a lavender moment for mainstream country, it's country outcasts staking their territory. We're as country as Mr All-American Blue Jeans, they seem to be saying, you can't tell us we don't belong. 'I'm such a fan [of Chappell] and I think what she's advocating for and doing musically is so important,' says Morris. 'You just know when you're watching a true artist be themselves, fully be themselves, and not follow a script or a paradigm. I don't want perfection from the artists I love; I want real, I want authenticity, and she's definitely that.' I'm speaking to Morris over Zoom, but with some foresight I might've caught her in person. Last month I noticed a Reddit commenter wonder aloud if they'd really just spotted Morris in Sydney. 'Yeah, that was me, I was on vacation,' Morris laughs. 'I had a week off and I was like, I really want to have a little adventure before all the tours and album stuff kicks in. I'd always wanted to go to Sydney and just explore, be a random person. The only plan on the schedule was to get a tattoo.' She lifts her forearm to show me the martini glass inked there by Sydney tattooist, Lauren Winzer. In a recent interview, Morris had mentioned it was her favourite drink. 'It is now. It's my 30-something cocktail. The dirtier, the better.' The local souvenir, one she hopes to add to when she returns on tour next summer, is also a symbol of her lively new era. Dreamsicle – her first album since her divorce from longtime partner, country singer Ryan Hurd, with whom she shares a five-year-old son – finds Morris blending her pop sensibilities with her country DNA. For each Push Me Over, there's an emotional barnstormer like This is How a Woman Leaves, written with Madi Diaz. (The song ends on a pure country couplet: 'You have the nerve to ask why I'm not crying/ I did all my crying lying next to you'.) 'They're songs tackling all these feelings of liberation – sexual, personal, vulnerable, angry,' says Morris. 'That's kind of the through line of this record, it's someone in a mess finding themselves and finding their power again.' A decade since her major label breakout, 2016's Hero, Morris remains one of country music's more intriguing figures, at once both insider and outsider. A Texan native, she started playing country fairs and rodeo circuits when she was 10 years old. After flunking at every reality TV singing competition (American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, et al), she eventually made the move to Nashville and became a hired gun in the songwriting machine, before becoming a star in her own right with Hero 's smashes My Church and '80s Mercedes, and 2018's crossover EDM hit The Middle with Zedd. In the intervening years, she also became one of country's loudest progressive voices, speaking out often and unequivocally against racism, misogyny and homophobia in its ranks. (In one memorable instance, responding to transphobic comments from Brittany Aldean – the wife of country star, Jason – she labelled her 'Insurrectionist Barbie'.) Loading In an interview with New York Times ′ Popcast in 2023, Morris decried an ugly strain of 'hatefulness' in country music at the time, a period dominated by MAGA-fied culture wars around Jason Aldean's Try That In a Small Town, Oliver Anthony's Rich Men North of Richmond, and Morgan Wallen's post-slur comeback. That same year she told the Los Angeles Times she'd 'take a step back' from the country industry amid conservative backlash and death threats. With some dust settled, does country feel less hateful now? 'I mean, I'm so out of the loop. But the people I hang around with here in Nashville and make music with are my best friends for a reason,' says Morris. The backlash just let her know who's really onside, anyway. 'I've always been rebellious and risky, and it's totally fine if people don't get it, not everyone is supposed to. Of course, you're going to lose some people along the way, that's life. But you need to let people know where you stand. 'That's why the fan base I do have is so diverse and safe,' she adds. 'It's because I've stuck my neck out for them and vice versa. It's not been me just towing the line and keeping my mouth shut to keep coins in my pocket. I really believe in what I'm saying and what I'm writing, and I think that's only been a benefit to my work. I've just never had it in me to be a fence-sitter.' Pun completely unintended.
The Age
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘You need to let people know where you stand': Maren Morris on being country music's most outspoken star
'Sitting on the fence feels good between my legs' sings Maren Morris on Push Me Over, the best song on the country star's new album Dreamsicle. Co-written and produced by the queer pop band MUNA, the song is a flirtatious statement of intent for Morris, who publicly came out as bisexual last June. For someone who's made a career out of righteously aggravating country music's conservative base, it's also typically provocative. Singing so slyly about same-sex lust in Nashville, the heart of the country music establishment, where Christian values still reign supreme: does it still feel taboo? 'I mean, less so than it used to. But maybe that's just because I've removed myself a bit from the machine of all that,' says Morris from her home in Nashville. Despite the assumptions of outside onlookers, Nashville is more than just the 'mechanism of mainstream country music,' the 35-year-old says. 'It is that, but there's also so much diversity here and it's always been that way. It's a progressive dot in the middle of a really conservative state, and it has to be because it's a music town. It has to lend itself to open-minded ideals, because we're making music here and we're empaths and we feel deeply.' It's why Morris has never left the city, even if country music's more conservative forces have tried hard to excommunicate her. 'There's a heartbeat here that's very free and accepts people, and that's why I've chosen to remain here and make this my home. I have my community here that I love, but I also want to help make it better and redefine what people maybe think of the South or of country music.' The same sentiment that seeps through Chappell Roan's The Giver, her '90s-flecked country hit about sapphic generosity, lives in Morris' Push Me Over. More than just a lavender moment for mainstream country, it's country outcasts staking their territory. We're as country as Mr All-American Blue Jeans, they seem to be saying, you can't tell us we don't belong. 'I'm such a fan [of Chappell] and I think what she's advocating for and doing musically is so important,' says Morris. 'You just know when you're watching a true artist be themselves, fully be themselves, and not follow a script or a paradigm. I don't want perfection from the artists I love; I want real, I want authenticity, and she's definitely that.' I'm speaking to Morris over Zoom, but with some foresight I might've caught her in person. Last month I noticed a Reddit commenter wonder aloud if they'd really just spotted Morris in Sydney. 'Yeah, that was me, I was on vacation,' Morris laughs. 'I had a week off and I was like, I really want to have a little adventure before all the tours and album stuff kicks in. I'd always wanted to go to Sydney and just explore, be a random person. The only plan on the schedule was to get a tattoo.' She lifts her forearm to show me the martini glass inked there by Sydney tattooist, Lauren Winzer. In a recent interview, Morris had mentioned it was her favourite drink. 'It is now. It's my 30-something cocktail. The dirtier, the better.' The local souvenir, one she hopes to add to when she returns on tour next summer, is also a symbol of her lively new era. Dreamsicle – her first album since her divorce from longtime partner, country singer Ryan Hurd, with whom she shares a five-year-old son – finds Morris blending her pop sensibilities with her country DNA. For each Push Me Over, there's an emotional barnstormer like This is How a Woman Leaves, written with Madi Diaz. (The song ends on a pure country couplet: 'You have the nerve to ask why I'm not crying/ I did all my crying lying next to you'.) 'They're songs tackling all these feelings of liberation – sexual, personal, vulnerable, angry,' says Morris. 'That's kind of the through line of this record, it's someone in a mess finding themselves and finding their power again.' A decade since her major label breakout, 2016's Hero, Morris remains one of country music's more intriguing figures, at once both insider and outsider. A Texan native, she started playing country fairs and rodeo circuits when she was 10 years old. After flunking at every reality TV singing competition (American Idol, America's Got Talent, The Voice, et al), she eventually made the move to Nashville and became a hired gun in the songwriting machine, before becoming a star in her own right with Hero 's smashes My Church and '80s Mercedes, and 2018's crossover EDM hit The Middle with Zedd. In the intervening years, she also became one of country's loudest progressive voices, speaking out often and unequivocally against racism, misogyny and homophobia in its ranks. (In one memorable instance, responding to transphobic comments from Brittany Aldean – the wife of country star, Jason – she labelled her 'Insurrectionist Barbie'.) Loading In an interview with New York Times ′ Popcast in 2023, Morris decried an ugly strain of 'hatefulness' in country music at the time, a period dominated by MAGA-fied culture wars around Jason Aldean's Try That In a Small Town, Oliver Anthony's Rich Men North of Richmond, and Morgan Wallen's post-slur comeback. That same year she told the Los Angeles Times she'd 'take a step back' from the country industry amid conservative backlash and death threats. With some dust settled, does country feel less hateful now? 'I mean, I'm so out of the loop. But the people I hang around with here in Nashville and make music with are my best friends for a reason,' says Morris. The backlash just let her know who's really onside, anyway. 'I've always been rebellious and risky, and it's totally fine if people don't get it, not everyone is supposed to. Of course, you're going to lose some people along the way, that's life. But you need to let people know where you stand. 'That's why the fan base I do have is so diverse and safe,' she adds. 'It's because I've stuck my neck out for them and vice versa. It's not been me just towing the line and keeping my mouth shut to keep coins in my pocket. I really believe in what I'm saying and what I'm writing, and I think that's only been a benefit to my work. I've just never had it in me to be a fence-sitter.' Pun completely unintended.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Maren Morris Reveals the Biggest Difference She's Seen in Dating Women Versus Men After Coming Out as Bisexual
Men are from Mars and women are from Venus — and Maren Morris agrees! In a recent appearance on the U Up? podcast, the "Girl" singer, who came out as bisexual last year, opened up about her experience dating men and women. For starters, Morris found that she has an easier time connecting with women. With men, it takes longer to go there. "My experience has been really positive. But I also have a confusion sometimes because I can connect with a woman, any woman, within like two minutes, and we'll be talking about our childhoods... Like, we will get into it so quickly. With a guy that would take like years to get into that trauma," Morris, 35, said. She continued, "But we're so good at building community out of sharing stories or gossip or whatever... It's a survival technique. We cling together out of vulnerabilities." Though she's able to connect with women on an "emotionally deep level," that sometimes make things confusing when determining if she has a romantic connection — or just a friendship. "I sometimes have the hard delineation of romance versus friendship, because women can connect so quickly and easily, which is a magical thing about us," she said. "But that's the comparison, I guess, to dating men, right? Because I've been there. It's like, I have enough friends. I think I'm good. I'm looking for something beyond that. But sometimes the chemistry isn't there. It doesn't depend, you know, on the guy or the girl." Morris, who was married to singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd for five years before filing for a dissolution of marriage in October 2023, revealed she identifies as bisexual in a celebratory LGBTQ+ Pride Month post in June of last year. "happy to be the B in LGBTQ+," wrote Morris, who is a longtime advocate for the queer community, alongside photos of herself holding Pride flags during her RSVP Redux Tour stop in Phoenix. "happy pride." Elsewhere in the podcast, Morris opened up about her first date with a woman and revealed she was "nervous." "I had never been on a date with a woman. So, of course, I'm going to be like, 'What the hell does this is look like?' But then it was so easy and ended up being like a three-hour hang," she said. In August, Morris revealed to PEOPLE that she found the courage to come out as bisexual after writing her song "Push Me Over." "I didn't ever feel before I had the courage to say that, and it was something that I knew for decades, but I think it was just the timing of: I'm in a space to say this without anything really getting misconstrued, and it's Pride Month," Morris said of her Instagram revelation. "I also had just felt comfortable in myself enough to write a song like 'Push Me Over.' It gave me the little shot of courage I needed, I guess." "It didn't really feel like coming out," Morris added of her decision to make the announcement. "It just felt like, 'Oh, and by the way, I'm kind of in the club too, so happy pride.' It was the most free, fun, silly way to do it." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Maren Morris isn't backing down on her bisexuality, 'I've always known'
With her fourth studio album Dreamsicle dropping this Friday, Maren Morris is entering a new era marked by freedom, vulnerability, and the kind of self-expression that doesn't ask permission. In a new interview with The Zoe Report, the Grammy-winning singer opened up about how embracing that part of herself has helped her feel more connected than ever. Whitten Sabbatini for TZR Maren Morris in her interview with The Zoe Report 'I've always known that I am attracted to men and women,' Morris said. But after 15 years of being in heterosexual relationships and navigating a career rooted in Nashville, she never felt 'brave enough' to talk about it publicly—until now. 'That was just a facet of me that I didn't think I wanted private anymore,' she added. 'I wanted to be able to connect with my fans and my queer community.' That connection has been more than personal—it's been life-saving. Following her 2023 divorce and departure from mainstream country music, Morris said she found comfort and strength through queer community and creative collaborators like MUNA, with whom she co-wrote the sultry, synth-forward track 'Push Me Over.' The song, which features the cheeky lyric 'sittin' on the fence feels good between my legs,' is already ruffling feathers—and she knows it. Whitten Sabbatini for TZR Maren Morris in her interview with The Zoe Report Still, Morris isn't backing down. 'Especially in a time where you're in this free-for-all post-divorce reckoning,' she says, 'being honest and being vulnerable is the only way that you find community.' Morris has long been known as a dedicated activist and ally, so much so that GLAAD honored her with the Excellence in Media Award back in 2023. She ultimately departed country music the same year, saying the genre was 'burning itself down' without her help and that the biases shown during Trump's first presidency showed people's true colors. 'It just revealed who people really were and that they were proud to be misogynistic and racist and homophobic and transphobic,' she told the Los Angeles Times at the time. Then, in June 2024, Morris came out in a since-deleted Instagram post (everything on her page prior to March 21, 2025, has also been deleted, so this is not an anomaly or backtrack.) At the time, she posted a photo of her holding Pride flags during her RSVP Redux Tour stop in Phoenix, Arizona, captioned, 'happy to be the B in the LGBTQ+' and wishing everyone a 'happy pride.' As Dreamsicle promises to usher in a new, more liberated version of Morris, one thing is clear: she's no longer interested in fitting any mold. Catch the album when it drops on May 9.
USA Today
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Maren Morris refuses to go through a 'shame-laden decade', announces new music
Maren Morris refuses to go through a 'shame-laden decade', announces new music Show Caption Hide Caption Maren Morris gets candid on her past year: 'It hasn't been easy' Maren Morris chats with USA TODAY's Ralphie Aversa about her Golden Globe nomination and the past year of her life and career. Maren Morris is gearing up to release her most Maren Morris album yet. 'Dreamsicle,' out May 9, is the country crossover singer's fourth full-length release and her first since 2022's 'Humble Quest.' Morris said in a release her new songs take place in the 'aftermath of loosening my grip on my personal and professional life' and finding the joy in being herself. 'No monster in the mirror, no shame-laden decade or unraveling 'what happened' – just acceptance, release and the reclaiming of how strong I've always been,' she said. The 14 tracks on the album include the five pop-leaning songs she released in August 2024 on her 'Intermission' EP, including the sexually exploratory 'Push Me Over' and the fizzy 'Cut' featuring Julia Michaels. Last June, several months after her divorce to country singer Ryan Hurd was finalized, Morris celebrated Pride Month by coming out as bisexual with an Instagram post that read, '"happy to be the B in LGBTQ+." Morris' progressive views have often differed from conservative stalwarts in the country music industry and in 2023 she announced she was leaving behind the 'toxic parts' of country music. 'I want to take the good parts with me,' she said on 'Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen." In an interview with USA TODAY last summer, Morris said she was challenging herself to 'move the goalposts' with her new music. 'I don't want to make the same record over and over,' she said. Morris has several tour dates slated starting in July. Earlier this year, Morris nabbed nominations for a Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Award with her song 'Kiss the Sky' from the soundtrack of the animated film, 'The Wild Robot.'
