The Evolution of a Friendship

The Evolution of a Friendship

How Brandi Carlile led Tanya Tucker to better appreciate her own worth

Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker have been friends for over two decades. They spent hours on their phone talking, sharing love stories, jokes and the importance of “being yourself.”

That last phrase is a challenge when you live in a culture obsessed with perfection.

“I got a lot of crap for not saying anything about myself,” Tucker told the Daily Beast in a telephone call from her home in North Carolina. “I’m a very self-aware person.”

Carlile, 33, has never been shy about speaking up about herself, but she has been far less outspoken compared to her friend, and the two women frequently say they have never had much in common. But Tucker, who has since left Carlile, believes they’ve connected through a shared passion for music—particularly music about love—and that Carlile deserves to be seen as more than just another “bad ass” or “hard-hitting” artist who can attract hits.

“I’m not a hater,” Carlile told the Daily Beast over the phone. “I don’t hate anybody. That’s how I think of them, not how they see me. I’m just saying I’d like to be seen.”

Here, the two women share their thoughts about the evolution of their friendship, their shared musical tastes and their love for the world.

Why can’t the two women be friends?

Carlile: “I don’t know, man. When we talk a lot, I’m happy. Sometimes we don’t talk at all. But we get each other! I’m always learning from her. That’s it. And we love our

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