(CNN) – Country music star Patrick Haggerty has died.
The 78-year-old suffered a stroke several weeks ago, and a close friend said Haggerty died on Monday.
Haggerty broke ground as the first openly gay country music artist with the group Lavender Country.
Their breakthrough album in 1973 was called “Lavender Country.” Many considered it a protest album against country music.
He did not produce another album for decades.
Haggerty spent those years in between as an activist for LGBTQ rights and socialist causes.
He re-released “Lavender Country” in 2014 and then rerecorded another album with other LGBTQ artists.
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