Brooke Eden recently stepped back into the limelight with new music and a fiancé on her hip. Following the release of her 2016 EP, Welcome to the Weekend – the breakthrough star took a massive hiatus to embark on her self-discovery journey and to hone in on her craft.
Eden returned to the industry with a country-pop banger titled “No Shade” and with a mission to use her voice to fight for LGBTQ+ equality in the country music space. It was a troubling comment by a naysayer on her team who inspired her latest release, “Got No Choice.”
“I don’t like to [name them] because don’t even want to give them the time of day for that,” Eden told the Recording Academy during an interview. “But it was a member of my team who’s no longer on my team. He straight-up, to our faces, said, ‘if you want to have a career, you have to keep your relationship a secret.” It was that ignorant remark that encouraged the hitmaker to step back and say she’s “Got No Choice.”
So, the blonde powerhouse put pen to paper alongside songwriters Jesse Frasure and Carly Barlowe to create the empowering radio-worthy hit that serves as a response to the individual who once doubted her success as a queer musician.
The up-tempo hit quickly became the song of the summer and a pride anthem. The love between Eden and her fiancé, Hilary Hoover, was perfectly captured in the vibrant and breezy “Got No Choice” music video. Following the release, she used her platform and the power of music to advocate and inspire others to live their true authentic self and reassure aspiring musicians in the LGBTQ+ community that there is a place for them in the genre.
The “Sunroof” singer performed at the 2021 Concert for Love and Acceptance, Chicago Pride Fest, Nashville Pride, and even performed at the legendary Grand Ole Opry with Trisha Yearwood during pride month. However, it wasn’t until the 2021 CMT Artists of the Year ceremony when Hoover stepped out on the red carpet hand in hand with the breakthrough star for the very first time.
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“This is a whole new world for me because I am usually on the other side of the camera. Normally, I am at the end of the carpet,” Hoover exclusively told Celeb Secrets Country reporter Juliet Schroder ahead of the star-studded night. “It’s been really fun. I mean, we have been together for a long time. So, it feels like it is about time we go and get out there together,” she adds.
In May of 2021, Hoover dropped down on one knee to ask the country music star for her hand In marriage in Sedona, Arizona. However, it wasn’t long until Eden wanted to surprise her fiancé with a massive rock as well. “For us, it was funny because we wanted to do two,” shared Hoover. “We kind of had our own moments and our own surprises.”
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While Hoover gushed over her dream-like proposal in the steamy Arizona desert, Eden jumped in to mention her rooftop proposal. “I proposed to her on the top of the Virgin Hotel rooftop and surprised her with our dog who had an engagement ring on her collar,” says Eden, full of excitement to CSC. “Once she said yes, all of her family and friends came out of this secret stairwell, and they all live in Indiana and Chicago. So, it was really fun to celebrate our engagement,” she concluded.
Before the two tie the knot, they revealed that they had put wedding planning on hold to bask in their engagement. Although, the fashion-forward couple already ruled out wearing traditional white wedding gowns, as they are currently “fighting” over who will rock a trendy jumpsuit.
As they both live on cloud nine, Eden tells Schroder that she is heading back into the studio to work on new material in the near future. “What I released at the beginning of this year – it was very sunshine vibes. This music is going to be kind of the other side of that…a little darker, a little deeper, but still there is always a glimmer of hope in anything that arrives.”
As a true storyteller at her very core, she confirms that she will be pulling from real-life experiences and will share the reality of being with someone romantically. “Just being in a long-term relationship and the struggles, joys, all the good and the bad,” says Eden about the inspiration behind her upcoming music.
Until she releases her new music, Eden continues to be a trailblazer within country music and pave the way for budding musicians who identify as gay. Do you have any wedding planning advice for Eden and her fiancé Hilary? Let us know by tweeting us at @CS_Country.
Watch our full interview with Brooke and Hilary below:
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