Shane McAnally

Do you agree?

Friendship goals!

Ty Herndon and Billy Gilman made headlines in November 2014 by revealing they were gay within hours of each other ... but they weren't the first country artists to make such an announcement.

Meeting his now-husband Michael Baum changed everything for Shane McAnally, both in his personal life and in his career.

"I came in and told Kacey and Brandy, her, a story about my mom and my sister having all this crazy, you know, blowup about my sister's breakup ..."

"I think it's wonderful and beautiful to have two women who could easily be competitive turn it [on its head] ..."

"What happened then was a two-hour therapy session ..."

"Hopefully even my presence will allow someone else to speak up," McAnally says.

"With "Hard to Forget," that song in entirety took a couple years to write ..."

Dang, what a lineup!