Brothers Osborne are that rare breed of Nashville country artists who aren’t afraid to veer off-script. In a vulnerable acceptance speech for their Best Country Duo/Group Performance win, the Maryland siblings addressed the personal origin of their Grammy-winning song “Younger Me” — it was inspired by singer TJ Osborne coming out as gay in 2021.
“It was written in response to me coming out. I never thought that I’d be able to do music professionally because of my sexuality,” TJ said. “And I certainly never thought I’d be here on this stage accepting a Grammy after having done something I felt like was going to be life-changing in potentially a very negative way.”
While the vocalist exuded Elvis cool in a gold lamé suit (call it 50,000,000 Osborne Fans Can’t Be Wrong?), his voice cracked with emotion in talking about his journey. “Here I am tonight not only accepting this Grammy Award with my brother, whom I love so much, but I’m here with a man who I love and who loves me back,” TJ said, referring to his boyfriend, Abi Ventura. “I don’t know what I did to be so lucky.”
TJ’s guitar-playing sibling John was equally overcome, taking the moment to address his younger self after a “What the hell!” exclamation and thanking his wife, the singer Lucie Silvas, and his brother. “I think if I want to thank somebody, I want to thank my younger self for just pursuing this,” John said. “We all have a younger self in us. Thank them because they got you here, and take care of that person.”
Brothers Osborne’s win in the Best Country Duo/Group Performance netted them their first-ever Grammy. Later, they returned to close out the telecast with a blistering rendition of their song “Dead Man’s Curve.”