Brandi Carlile celebrates Sad Gay Version with Stonewall set and karaoke

Brandi Carlile took over Manhattan's Stonewall Inn on 30 September to celebrate Returning to Myself (Sad Gay Version). The appearance was staged as a benefit across the bar and the neighbouring Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, according to Gay City News. The night moved from interview to live set to singalong.

The record is a deluxe edition, an expanded re-release with extra or reworked material, of her 2025 album Returning to Myself. It revisits the album's 10 songs in pared-down, intimate recordings and adds one new track, "Human", as reported by Billboard.

Carlile started the evening in conversation with photographer Collier Schorr, who shot the cover for Returning to Myself. She then played an hour-long set made up of the Sad Gay Versions. The small room kept the audience within a few feet of the piano for every song.

Mid-set came a preview from another project. She performed Billy Joel's "And So It Goes" and said it is her contribution to the Practical Magic 2 soundtrack. She told the crowd actor Sandra Bullock had asked her to record the song after reaching out via FaceTime.

The new song brought the night's unplanned moment. The sound cut out during "Human." She kept singing. Carlile answered with an unamplified, acoustic version of "The Joke" that carried through the room without speakers or monitors.

Then the night loosened up. Carlile joined fans on the second floor for tequila shots and what she called "Sad Gay Karaoke." It was informal and crowded, with fans taking turns at the microphone alongside her.

Backed by the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, she sang Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." She led the room through Madonna's "Like a Prayer," a karaoke favourite, and joined in on the Chicks' "Goodbye Earl." The performances were loose, loud and driven by the crowd singing back each chorus.

Video of the Dion singalong spread quickly. Carlile's official Facebook account posted a clip of the performance with the chorus at the Inn. Billboard also published its own video from the night on 1 October, filmed in the packed bar.

For fans, this means two ways to hear the same songs. The 2025 studio album. Now a quieter retelling first heard in a bar built for close listening, with the audience part of the show.