Clay Aiken On Coming Out Gay + New Song Set For 12/20

By On 12/11/2011 · 120 Comments · In American Idol, Clay Aiken

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In a recent interview with Adam Corolla, American Idol alum, Clay Aiken talked about his personal journey of coming out gay.

He describes it as a really slow process, and if he hadn’t grown up in North Carolina, where people generally hid their sexuality, he might have come to terms with it earlier. In high school, he didn’t know exactly what “gay” was. It was coming to Los Angeles for Idol when he fully realized who he was.

I think it’s time for Clay to write an update to his 2005 memoir, Learning to Sing.

Also, Clay has a song coming out on December 20 called “Bring Back Your Love”.  You can listen to a clip  at Amazon.com or a longer clip at 99.3 WALK.

Watch Clay’s interview with Adam Carolla below.

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_S7SESS3YJTJIQGNSE7PL5YUEGQ Silas Warner

    I’m prepared to wait and pass judgment on Dec. 20th when I’ve heard more than a 30 second snippet of the song.

  • Anonymous

    One can argue that Clay’s latest story, regardless of “accuracy”, my be helpful to people and that may be true, but ultimately, I feel that the truth is more important.

    Okay, see, I think that the truth of Clay’s coming out process should actually only be important to Clay Aiken.  I guess, unless he’s willing to give a timeline on when he came out to whom, I’m not sure I can hold one telling up to another and call one fictitious.  It seems plausible to me that there are elements in each “story” that could be true, but because people don’t tell a story from their past exactly the same way every time, things appear to conflict.

    I also don’t think that Clay’s responsible for his cray cray fans’ behavior.  

     

    These fans were very vocal on the Internet attacking anyone and everyone who even suggested that Clay was gay (even though many of those people didn’t mean anything negative about it), and because they were CC, suggestions/hints that Clay was gay were considered horrible insults.  There were stories of people being stalked and harassed in real life.  It really got out of hand.  

    Well, those people are just whackadoodles who needed to get a life.  I can only hope they actually acquired one after they jumped off the Clay-train LOL.

    So, all that said, I’m not sure that it was the gayness or the coming out/not coming out that eroded the bulk of Clay’s fanbase.  Clay has a good voice, but he has super shitty taste in picking what music to record.  

  • Chris

    I agree with Fuzzy that Clay’s fatal flaw was encouraging his Claymates. Every celebrity knows who their core fans are and its fun to say sexuality shouldn’t matter but that’s not true for many artists. Clay’s fans through panties on stage. He was named one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive, normally, esp back in 2003, focused on heterosexual men. Clearly, he knew he had no attraction to women during the 2003 to 2008 timeframe. So, like Ricky Martin, it was only a matter of time before this whole house of cards came crashing down.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-Francis/100001303112302 Michelle Francis

     
     That’s the great thing about music – it’s all subjective and, as individuals, we are all free to pick and choose what we like.   It’s like comparing apples to oranges.  Just because someone prefers apples and someone else prefers oranges, it doesn’t mean that apples aren’t good.
     

  • Anonymous

    So is this the song that his label is gonna push to CHR? Cuz um yeah not gonna happen

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_S7SESS3YJTJIQGNSE7PL5YUEGQ Silas Warner

    Clay said its going to be sent to AC.

    On his official fan club Clay told the defenders: 

    Ignore them. I’ll love
    you anyway! ;)

    … but they didn’t listen.

  • Anonymous

    wasn’t making a comment on whether the song is “good” or not but whether it would make it on Top 40 airplay. Which this song won’t.  

  • Moria Polonius

    Clay said its going to be sent to AC.

    Does Clay’s new song have a shot there? It doesn’t sound contemporary.

  • fuzzywuzzy

    There were two problems with that comment.  First, it referred to fights on the fanclub message board where commenting on Clay’s sexuality was forbidden and it happened long after the damage had been done by the rabids.  Second, Clay needed to make a clear statement to his fans to distance himself from those rabid attacks, that there was nothing wrong with being gay.  Just like Drew (who is only 14) publicly condemned the death threats from the crazies and rejected that behavior as unacceptable to her.

  • fuzzywuzzy

    I saw a post by one of his fans saying that the song reminded them of something Pat Boone would have sung and recorded.  lol

  • fuzzywuzzy

    For me, the issue isn’t how Clay came out or when, it’s that he has a history of changing his stories about so many things, not just his coming out process.  Perhaps, he was used to ‘hiding’ for so long and he finds it difficult to be really straightforward, but I’ve seen enough to believe that he is not an honest person in general, and that is excluding anything he’s said about coming out.  Does he “owe” the public any honesty about anything?  Nope, but when a person has a history of inconsistent/conflicting statements, then it’s going to impact public opinion about him and that’s his choice.

  • fuzzywuzzy

    “So, all that said, I’m not sure that it was the gayness or the coming
    out/not coming out that eroded the bulk of Clay’s fanbase.  Clay has a
    good voice, but he has super shitty taste in picking what music to
    record.”

    That’s true, because the sales for his last CD before he came out showed that he had lost a bulk of his fans by then, and ultimately, I agree that it was because of the music.  Thing is, a lot of the “wackadoodles” still remained until Clay publicly came out, and then they finally had to accept the (to them) horrific truth, which of course was a dealbreaker.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-Francis/100001303112302 Michelle Francis

    No matter what one’s perception of anyone is, it’s always colored by their OWN view of things and their own understanding, or lack thereof, of another’s person’s reality.  Until we walk a mile in another person’s shoes, we have absolutely no idea of what his/her journey is like.

  • Anonymous

     Best post on this whole thread in my eyes.

  • Anonymous

    I think Clay must be courting SuBo’s audience with that song. If he wins them over, I would imagine he would have a big seller. So look for Clay’s CD in the local Barnes and Noble or Books a Million or Wal-Mart near you!

  • Chris

                   ”Second, Clay needed to make a clear statement to his fans to distance himself from those rabid attacks, and that there was nothing wrong with being gay.”

    Yes, its possible, he could have at least hinted at being supportive, dip his toe in the water a bit.  However, I am sure the reason he would not is because that’s just not the belief of most devote Christians.  I am a Preacher’s kid so I know there would be people that would have dropped him like a hot potato for publicly stating he was gay friendly.  That said, its not possible to live a lie for long, so its better to just find out who your real fans are sooner.  

    There are fans out there that don’t care if he is gay and like “Bring Back your Love.” It may not get him to gold records but he’ll feel better. Clay has a lovely voice, so I really do wish him luck.

  • Anonymous

    Thx for the idea to download the podcast. I will do that.  Clay Aiken is very witty and a fun interview.  I’m sure I’ll like it.

    Which is more than I can say for that song.  Why oh why oh why???  It’s an early 70s ballad.  The arrangement?  Get real.  He’s such a wonderful singer.  Why is attracted to such old material?  Even his new stuff is 50 years old.  So odd.

  • fuzzywuzzy

    “That said, its not possible to live a lie for long, so its better to just find out who your real fans are sooner.”

    Not from a financial standpoint.  ;)

  • http://www.facebook.com/serena.monroe.54 Serena Monroe

    I loved Clay on AI.  Still love his beautiful voice but wont listen to it anymore.  Disgusted that he claims to be a Christian and is having sex with some male model who strips for Aids event.  He has a God given voice…too bad he dont use it for the right reasons.  Shame on you Clay.  Actually after he came out, I refused to believe the he would participate in anything like that.  Am I nieve or what? Its an abomination to God.  But I pray that he turns his life around before its too late.  I know his grandmother is disappointed in him

  • http://www.facebook.com/serena.monroe.54 Serena Monroe

    I guess that Clay is gonna blame God for his being gay…just like Ray Boltz.  I’d much rather for my son to grow up knowing I had lied about something than to tell him that I was homosexual…something that was Clay’s choice of lifestyle.  He wanted his cake and eat it too.  Too bad.

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