Brandi Carlile’s Musical Homecoming: ‘Returning to Myself’ and the fight for LGBTQ+ equality

Brandi Carlile’s latest chapter is a triumphant blend of personal reflection, musical evolution, and unwavering activism. With her new album Returning to Myself and a powerful collaboration with Elton John on Who Believes in Angels?, Carlile continues to use her voice to uplift, inspire, and advocate - especially for LGBTQ+ communities.

Returning to Myself marks Carlile’s first solo album in four years, a deeply introspective project that explores solitude, identity, and reconnection. Produced with Andrew Watt, Aaron Dessner and Justin Vernon, the album features emotionally rich tracks like A War With Time and Church & State, blending Americana, folk and rock.

Carlile describes the title track as a meditation on the discomfort of solitude and the beauty of togetherness: “Returning to myself is not just a lonely, but a painfully boring thing to do. Togetherness has given me everything I love about being alive.”

Carlile’s activism is woven into every note she sings. Her collaboration with Elton John on Who Believes in Angels? is more than music - it’s a love letter to queer youth. The track Swing for the Fences is especially poignant: “It lifts the veil between what is and what could be for the young person... and there’s a little extra kiss on the envelope to the young queer person.”

In her Big Issue interview, Carlile reflected on growing up queer in rural Washington: “At 16, I had just come out of the closet... I had never met nor known a gay person. So I was struggling through the awkwardness of adolescence and trying to imagine a way out of poverty.” 

She credited Elton John’s activism and music with lighting her path: “After hearing this man I had already fallen in love with based on his activism, it galvanised a shift in my life.” 

Carlile spoke candidly about the emotional complexity of being queer in America today. “Getting married in 2012 felt like a radical act... We’ve got two little girls now and we’re very afraid about the future of our union. It’s not a guarantee that we get to stay married in the country we live in.” 

Despite these fears, Carlile is hopeful and proud: “I’m proud I didn’t end up having to hide or feeling like I had to be something I wasn’t.”

Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival continues to be a haven for LGBTQ+ fans and women in music. With artists like The Chicks and Sam Smith on the 2026 lineup, the event is a celebration of inclusion and joy.

Her Looking Out Foundation also supports causes ranging from LGBTQ+ rights to environmental justice, reinforcing her belief that music can - and should - be a force for change.

Carlile’s journey is one of transformation, but also of constancy. She has never stopped being the girl who glued sequins onto borrowed suits, who found freedom in Elton John’s piano, and who believed music could change lives. “Something has to come along in the life of an adolescent to light that path - and that’s what their music did for me.”