Brandi Carlile

The folk-rock singer-songwriter sailed onto the scene with her self-titled album in 2005, and has never looked back. Her star continued to rise with her second record, The Story, which hit the Billboard 200 in 2007. Carlile, 41, hit a career high with her sixth album, By the Way, I Forgive You in 2018. She scored six nominations for the record at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards – the most for a female artist that year – took home three Grammys that evening.

Carlile has continued to dominate at the biggest night in music in the years since, and has won 9 Grammy awards in her career so far — with 24 nominations!

Ever honest with fans, Carlile reflected on her childhood in poverty, sexuality, faith and journey to success in her memoir Broken Horses, which topped The New York Times bestseller list when it was released last spring.

Speaking to PEOPLE at the time, Carlile opened up about what it meant to be a parent who is part of the LGBTQ+ community. The star shares daughters Evangeline and Elijah with wife Catherine Shepherd.

“I’m hoping people see through my story that there’s no right or wrong way to evolve into a parenting role in either heterosexual or same-sex relationships,” Carlile said. “There are different, complicated dynamics, and there are many ways to feel. The more we talk about it and normalize it, the easier it is to understand that your parenting journey is custom. It really is your own.”

Carlile also runs her own organization, Looking Out Foundation, which she started with money made from a General Motors commercial she and her bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth worked on — after helping to rewrite the ad to feature the company’s electric cars. The organization raises money and awareness for causes in the arts, human rights, women’s equality and more.

Catherine, Carlile’s wife, came on board as the executive director of LOF in 2012.

“When I came on board, I noticed that $2 of every concert ticket that Brandi sells goes directly to the foundation, so the fans form the basis of the foundation just by virtue of the fact that they’re going to see Brandi play,” Catherine told PEOPLE. “So, for me, my priority was finding a way to engage and galvanize Brandi’s fan base, because they’re all activists. My first mission really was to take these volunteers on the road and launch campaigns to coincide with Brandi’s projects, and her touring, and her albums.”