Josey Greenwell signed a Nashville record deal in 2006. He was a 19-year-old blonde country singer who was out of the closet. Greenwell appeared on the cover of DNA magazine, and he went on Dr. Phil to talk about his career as a gay musician in a genre dominated by bros. But by 2013, Josey Greenwell had disappeared. His Wikipedia page was deleted, and his social media pages were wiped clean.
Then in April, this video was released by "debut artist Nate Green."
Nate Green looked awfully familiar, because he was. Nate Green was Josey Greenwell "rebranded." Only now, he was being marketed as a straight man. WeHo Confidential confirmed that Nate Green was, in fact, Josey Greenwell.
Nate Green, whoever he is, portrays himself as heterosexual as he possibly can. Look at the opening of the music video for "Wild & Free" where Green is shown seducing women. The video specifically paints him as the ideal straight white male. He wields a gun in women's faces. He treats women as possessions who should be protected as his, which is just a little strange, since his former persona was ostensibly not attracted to them.
Ultimately, this rebranding may be working for Green(well). Teen girls like the new, straighter version of him. But while this transition might help him financially, it's certainly a blow to the LGBTQ community he promised in 2011 to represent.
