Chely Wright Exceeds Kickstarter Goal for New Album

Congratulations are in order for Chely Wright, who has exceeded the Kickstarter goal for her new album.

The singer began her campaign at the end of August, with the goal of raising $175,000.

“I've been writing a lot of songs in the past few years, and I’m ready to start recording my next album. I need your help,” Wright said at the time. “I will make a record in the same way I've always made records -- using the best musicians, the best engineers and recording in the best studios available. The only difference this time around is that we are choosing to harness the ‘power of the people’ to fund my album.”

The power of the people turned out to be plenty powerful. Wright raised a total of $247,181, and she documented the final seconds of the fundraising effort in the above video, which shows a complete count of 2,263 backers. Wright exceeded her stretch goal of $200,000, and she promised fans that surpassing it would mean even more exciting things ahead -- specifically, tour support.

"If we raise more than our goal, we can keep going!  If we reach our stretch goal, all that we raise will go toward marketing and promotion, original video content and tour support. This tour support will allow me to do shows in more places, and that means I’ll get to meet you out there on the road," Wright wrote on her Kickstarter page. "All of the funds we raise will go right back into engaging with you, the fans."

It's been 15 years since Wright's 'Single White Female' nabbed the No. 1 spot, but her successful Kickstarter campaign shows that she's still a shining star in country music.