Brothers Osborne were filled with tears, disbelief, and gratitude as they accepted the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo Group Performance for “Younger Me” Sunday afternoon at the 64th Grammy Awards in Las Vegas.
“This song was written in response to me coming out,” T.J. Osborne said, his eyes red, brimming, and his voice cracking with emotion. “I never thought I’d be able to do music professionally because of my sexuality, and I certainly never thought I’d be here on this stage accepting a Grammy, especially after having done something that felt like was going to be life-changing potentially in a negative way. And here I am tonight, not only accepting this Grammy Award with my brother, who I love so much, but I’m here with a man that I love and who loves me back. I don’t know what I did to get so lucky.”
T.J. Osborne’s brother John Osborne watched from his brother’s side, his eyes filling, too.
“I don’t know what to say,” said John Osborne, who has been open about his mental health struggles over the last year. “I’m really nervous. I want to thank my wife. I want to thank my little brother for always being great. I think if I want to thank somebody, I want to thank my younger self for just pursuing this. We all have a younger self in us. Thank them because they got you here.”
T.J. Osborne came out in February of 2021, and Brothers Osborne has won every country music industry award designated for duos since then. While music industry voters embraced the brothers even tighter, country radio hasn’t been as supportive.
In early March, T.J. Osborne shared his frustration over Brothers Osborne’s song “I’m Not For Everyone” getting pulled from country radio.
Brothers Osborne’s rollicking single “I’m Not For Everyone” was recently pulled from country radio, and the men are deflated over the unwelcome news.
“We kind of keep pushing and trying to persevere, and what has kept us going for the past eight years are these (wins),” John Osborne later explained to reporters backstage at the ACM Awards. “It has kept wind in our sails, not only what it does in terms of the fanbase and the notoriety, but what it does for us as people who keep fighting what we feel like is an uphill battle even when we do win.”
According to Billboard, “I’m Not For Everyone” peaked at No. 33 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated March 5 and had been on the chart for 43 weeks. It is missing from the March 12 chart.
TJ Osborne said the brothers have always felt like underdogs in country music.
“That’s part of it, is that we don’t get necessarily a lot of the love that some of the other artists do on the radio, and I’m not necessarily criticizing anyone specifically for that, but it’s just a fact, and to be there tonight, I guess some people were upset that I said that,” he said. “I said a true statement. I don’t know, our single literally got pulled last week, and we just won an award. If you’re upset about that, maybe you’re part of the problem.”
“I’m Not For Everyone” is the second radio single from Brothers Osborne’s 2020 album, “Skeletons.” “All Night” was the album’s first single, and Billboard reports it peaked at No. 25 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, which the trade publication says is about average for the duo. 2015’s “Stay a Little Longer” is Brothers Osborne’s only Top 5 hit, the publication reports, yet the pair remains a favorite on the touring circuit and the awards show stage. (Their duet “Burning Man” with Dierks Bentley was also a Top 5 hit.)