Patrick Haggerty, Of 'The World’s 1st Openly Gay Country Band,' Dies At 78

Lavender Country, known as “the world’s first openly gay country band,” confirmed that bandmate Patrick Haggerty has died. He was 78.

“This morning, we lost a great soul. RIP Patrick Haggerty,” Lavender Country captioned a photo on Instagram on Monday (October 31). “After suffering a stroke several weeks ago, he was able to spend his final days at home surrounded by his kids and lifelong husband, JB. Love, and solidarity. 💜💜💜”

Lavender Country released their debut album in the early 1970s, a 10-track self-titled project that made history as what’s considered the first openly-gay album in country music. The band rereleased the legendary albumin 2014, and shared a new 10-track project, Blackberry Rose, earlier this year, nearly five decades after Lavender Country’s debut.

Earlier this year, Haggerty told CNN: “When we made Lavender Country, it was sort of an announcement that I had changed my mind, and that I was going to be a rabble-rouser … as opposed to someone who was going to be onstage doing anything. I had to choose one or the other, and there was no possible way that I could be both.”

Haggerty — who also told CNN that “we weren’t stupid” when making Lavender Country, and “no genre was going to take stock of anything that I had to say” — added at the time that he “didn’t aspire” to reach big fame, but “I made Lavender Country as a vehicle for social change, and now I get to use Lavender Country for the exact reason that I made it in the first place – pure and unadulterated.”