LeAnn Rimes recently talked about
choking up during a performance to support gay teens.
The 28-year-old country music star
joined the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles last year at their annual
Christmas musical extravaganza titled Comfort & Joy, which
was dedicated to the memory of troubled gay teens who had committed
suicide after being bullied.
She first sang Rockin' Around the
Christmas Tree and All I Want for Christmas is You in a
revealing Santa dress as boyfriend Eddie Cibirian (CSI:Miami)
and family members looked on.
After a dress change, Rimes returned to
the stage holding a single red rose. She became emotional as she
dedicated her final song to gay teens who had been bullied to death.
“It's been an incredible year, but
also a very tragic year for a lot of young gay men and women who have
been taking their own lives because they can't be themselves,”
Rimes said.
When she started to choke up, an
audience member yelled out, “We love you!”
“It's really sad when people can't be
themselves,” she added before singing The Rose in a duet
with chorus. (The video is embedded in the right panel of this
page.)
In an interview published last week
with Chicago
gay weekly the Windy City Times, Rimes talked about the
experience.
“Yes, I am just a wimp onstage,”
she told the paper. “If I think about what I am really singing
about it is difficult sometimes.”