Chely Wright reveals the advice Leslie Jordan gave her the night before she came out

Country music star Chely Wright is mourning the death of actor Leslie Jordan with a story about the impact he had on her coming out.

The “Single White Female” singer, who announced that she is gay in 2010 on TODAY, says she was with the “Will & Grace” star the night before she made the announcement.

“A quick story about Leslie Jordan. @thelesliejordan,” Wright wrote in a Twitter thread Monday after Jordan died in a car accident. “(1) He was gifted, hilarious, generous, deep and filled with a full range of humanity. The night before I came out of the closet, I spent a fabulous evening in NYC with Leslie Jordan. He knew what the next day held for me.”

“Before we parted, he said, ‘I’m gonna get up early tomorrow morning and watch you come out of the closet on the @todayshow, you gorgeous lesbian! And I’m gonna give you some good advice tonight. Are you ready?” she continued. “I replied, ‘Yes. What’s your advice?’

“He motioned for me to sit down in a chair near us both,” Wright went on. “I’m tall and had heels on that night, so my sitting sort of leveled our line of sight; which was, of course, why he had me sit.

“I sat — while he remained standing,” she wrote. “Leslie leaned toward me, put his forehead directly onto mine and said, ‘You go girl.’ (And then he spoke five words with notable pauses in between.) ‘And. Don’t. Take. No. S—.’

Wright, 52, said his comment left an indelible mark on her.

“I will never forget how Leslie Jordan, a person who had paved the way for me and so many others said the words, “And. Don’t. Take. No. S—,” she wrote.

Wright said she understood how Jordan’s own experience set the stage for her and others like her.

“I knew by the way he said it that there were decades of s— he had taken so the rest of us didn’t have to,” she finished. “Thank you, Leslie. May you fly…”

Jordan died after suffering a medical episode while driving, according to a spokesperson for the actor. Wright is not the only country music star mourning the Emmy winner’s death.

“Well I am as hurt and shocked as if I have lost a family member,” Dolly Parton wrote on Instagram.

“I know people always say ‘Oh, they will be missed’ but in this case that could not be more true,” she continued. “He will be missed by everyone who knew him personally and by everyone who was entertained by him.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com