Brandi Carlile Credits Ellen DeGeneres With Inspiring Her To Come Out

In an interview, the singer-songwriter talked about her new Grammys and upcoming tour.

Fresh off her triumph at the 2019 Grammy Awards last Sunday, Brandi Carlile gave fans another opportunity to marvel at her musical prowess when she swung by “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Thursday for a performance.

The Seattle-based singer-songwriter performed a chilling version of “The Joke,” accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. It was a wildly different interpretation of the award-winning hit, though just as effective.

In a brief interview following the performance, Carlile opened up about her Grammy experience, recalling the heartwarming speech she gave after accepting the award for Best American Roots Song for “The Joke.”

“I basically just outlined that I came out of the closet when I was 14 years old because of you, and just never attended any parties or was never invited to a dance or anything like that,” said Carlile, who has been married to Catherine Shepherd since 2012. “I basically said that to be embraced by such an enduring and loving community was the dance of a lifetime, and it really was.”

Though Carlile’s universally acclaimed Grammy performance made her one of the most buzzed-about artists of the night, she’s looking eagerly to the future. In April, she embarks on her 2019 tour.

The tour, which kicks off in Nashville, will include Carlile’s first headlining gig at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and it’s a personal milestone she has yet to wrap her mind around.

“When you’re sitting in your bedroom with your guitar and you’re 17 years old, you don’t think you’re ever going to play Madison Square Garden, but you can hope,” she said. “It’s going to be an unfathomable dream for me.”

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