Sam Williams Opens Up About His Gay Identity for the First Time: ‘It … – PEOPLE

Sam Williams is opening up about his sexuality and hopes it helps other small-town exports to feel less alone.

In an upcoming episode of Apple Music’s Proud Radio with Hunter Kelly, Williams detailed the inspiration behind his new “Tilted Crown” music video, which chronicles his upbringing as Hank Williams Jr.’s son and sees him kiss another man — his boyfriend — on camera for the first time.

The country star, 25, explained that he planned on including references to his sexuality in a video for his song “Snow Angels” that never came to fruition. When director duo Alexa and Stephen Kinigopoulos were conceptualizing the “Tilted Crown” music video, they felt it was important to include a gay kiss to tell the story of his life.

“At first I kind of thought that, ‘I’m tackling something else with this.’ And I thought that maybe that’s for another project,” said Williams. “But again, I felt like I was promoting invisibility, like I wasn’t being visible and wasn’t being myself. And I just thought it was the perfect opportunity to just show who I was.”

Asked about the details of his identity by host Hunter Kelly, Williams explained that he uses “he/him” pronouns and said, “I identify as gay, and I’ve never said that to anybody else. I mean, people at my label know and people in my personal life know, but this is the first time that I’ve ever been, besides a show or two, that I’ve ever been this public about it. And it is scary, but it feels good.”

The Paris, Tennessee native explained that growing up in a small town led him to spend a lot of “energy” pushing against his true feelings in order to hide his sexuality and “fit in” with other kids.

“It’s exhaustive, and I think that… if I was a kid, and I was younger, and I saw somebody like myself doing an interview like this and just saying that, ‘This is who I am and I’m proud to be who I am,’ that it would have been impactful for me,” explained Williams. “So I think at the end of the day, that’s one of the most important reasons why I’m being so open.”

In addition to his identity, the “Tilted Crown” video touches on Williams’ relationship with his late sister, Katie, who was killed in a car crash in June 2020. During his Proud Radio interview, the musician spoke about informing Katie of his gay identity before her death.

“I told her a few months before then — in Alabama of all places — on the back of a four-wheeler. We were driving on a four-wheeler about to go eat somewhere, and I just felt called to — and I just felt like I had to, like I was hiding so much,” he recalled, noting that Katie was “so emotional.”

“I think that she could see pain that I was in from hiding that and just had no idea. And I was like, ‘There’s been some situations that have made me uncomfortable and I just want you to know.’ And I could just see that there was such a pain there of not knowing,” explained Williams.

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According to the performer, telling his manager about his sexuality was another milestone moment, as “it’s a big deal” when you’re a public figure. “Some people choose to wait a lot longer to show their true selves and some people choose to never and to never say neither nor,” said Williams. “And that was a big moment for me because I still felt accepted and I still felt worthwhile. Like people’s investment in me was worth it and no matter who I loved didn’t play a part in that.”

Since the video for “Tilted Crown” — which appears on his new deluxe album Glasshouse Children: Tilted Crown — was released earlier this month, Williams said the response has been “extremely positive.” Furthermore, he’s appreciated viewers’ interpretations of the older man character who acts aggressively with the young child (who seemingly represents Williams) and urges him to act more manly.

“That’s not necessarily playing my dad, that’s playing society as a whole… pointing young kids in direction of like, ‘This is what girly girls do. You wear this pink bow and you go to Sunday service.’ Or, like with little boys, ‘You go hunting…’ [or] ‘This is what you’re supposed to be doing, son,'” he explained, noting that so many children experience that type of control.

However, Williams further clarified that the characters’ relationship is more symbolic than specific. “My relationship with my dad wasn’t really like that at all. He didn’t push me to be in music. He pushed me go to hunting, I do have to give him that. He did push me to go hunting,” he said. “I just wanted to clear that up just in case… It’s a little bit hard for me to watch because it’s just so honest, and it just brings back so much, and it’s all there on the surface.”

Tune in and listen to the episode in full this Sunday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. ET or anytime on-demand at apple.co/_ProudRadio on Apple Music Country.

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