Richell Rene "Chely" Wright (/ˈʃɛli ˈraɪt/; born October 25, 1970) is an American country music singer and gay rights activist. On the strength of her debut album in 1994, the Academy of Country Music (ACM) named her Top New Female Vocalist in 1995. Wright's first Top 40 country hit came in 1997 with "Shut Up and Drive". Two years later, her fourth album yielded a number one single, the title track, "Single White Female". Overall, Wright has released seven studio albums on various labels, and has charted more than fifteen singles on the country charts. As of May 2010, Wright's previous eight albums and 19 singles released had sold over 1,500,000 copies in the United States. In May 2010, Wright became one of the first major country music performers to publicly come out as lesbian. In television appearances and an autobiography, she cited among her reasons for publicizing her homosexuality a concern with bullying and hate crimes toward gays, particularly gay teenagers, and the damage to her life caused by "lying and hiding".
On a Friday night where I grew up
There ain't a whole lot you can do
The same ole' faces the same ole' places
Ain't nothin' ever new
After the football game we'd hang around
The high school parking lot
Then we'd pile into a couple of cars
And head off to our favorite spot
Down to the river
We went to the river
My Sophomore year was a carbon copy
Of the ones that came before
'Til a night in late November
That shook us all down to the core
We'd won the game by twenty points
Couldn't wait to celebrate
But our lead car was goin' way too fast
They never even hit the breaks
They went into the river
Deep in the river
We buried Laurie Mabrey
In the clothes that she'd been wearin'
Her cheerleader outfit never looked
So out of place
That sweater and that pleated skirt
Of blue and white and crimson
Just didn't belong in that shiny silver case
I moved here to Nashville
On May 12th '89
And I started gettin' letters once a week
From this friend of mine
I'd gone to school with Christine Thuro
From kindergarten on
She'd say hang in there 'cause
I just know you're gonna be a star
She and her boyfriend and a couple of kids
I guess she met through him
Set out for the Marais Des Cygne
To try to cool off by takin' a swim
There'd been a lot of rain that summer
And the current was too strong
I heard that they did all they could
But Christine she was gone
Into the river
She died there in the river
I was baptized in that same water
Gave my soul to Jesus
How can such a peaceful place
Be filled with so much pain
'Cause two young mothers lost their daughters
Right there for no reason
I swear I'll never go down there again
Back to the river
That mean ole' river
That beautiful river
That damn ole' river