Sandra Rose Blind Item
You can read the guesses here.
A popular R&B singer is planning to come out of the closet soon, but his handlers worry that coming out now would destroy his career.
His handlers note that other young black singers courageously came out of the closet, only to see their careers sink like the Titanic. But the singer says he is a mature adult and he is tired of hiding his truth. He knows that the music industry is particularly harsh to young black men who are openly gay, especially former boy band singers.
There are more closeted black men in the entertainment industry than heterosexual. But most of them cower in their closets — hiding behind their wives or girlfriends, because they’re afraid of losing their straight female fan base.
42 comments:
Usher
Aren't they afraid of losing their young MALE fan base more? I think women are more gay-friendly than men.
Somebody willing to commit career suicide. Where's Frank Ocean these days?
Just to ensure a dead career--Jason DeRuuuuuuuulo
The Omarion guess on that page is doubled down by LSA, so there's that.
Donald glover (childish gambino)
But he's more known for his acting .... so I'm prob wrong
I'll go with Neyo. However the blind doesn't specifically say he has children (which he does).
Just released a very eagerly-awaited and well-reviewed new album. He was never going for the mainstream career.
Absolutely. Especially in the African-American community.
Well, Ne-Yo, Omarion, and Derulo have all fought the 'gay' tag in the past, and (if the article's claim that there are more closeted gay R&B singers than heterosexual), they could all be potential 'answers' to at least that part of the blind. Might as well add Trey Songz to the mix, as he has been the target of 'outing' attempts in the past, too. Problem is, only Omarion was part of a Boy Band (B2K).
So of those names provided, he'd be my guess. On the Sandra Rose page, it seems they have a lot of support for Lloyd as a guess (he was part of a group called N-Toon). Johnny Gill also gets a lot of heat (he was, obviously, part of New Edition). Gill's pushing 50 and hasn't been a big name in a long time, so.. who knows.
Ray-J
Come on out. Frank Ocean's album did quite well. Artists can make a living through iTunes streaming nowadays. .In the future it's no longer going to be about record companies and cd sales. It's about a fandom/fanbase on social media. He may make a little less money but have peace of mind. Being free and happy and truthful is priceless.
He's practically disappeared from the industry. Ironically, Kanye has thrown much support his way.
I'm going with Drake. I think he overcompensates with all of the ladies!
I'm going with Kanye. It might be the reason he lost his marbles (so they say).
Now Sandra Rose? And I thought MTO was bad enough!
Drake and usher are both closeted but they weren't in a boyband were they?
Has a study ever been done (in academia) specifically on gay entertainers whose career have been negatively impacted after coming out. I did a search and got little. I'm not talking about speculation and gossip, but folks who came out. Specifically people like George Michael and Ricky Martin although they came out pretty much at the latter end of their careers. We know Elton's solid career pretty much shielded him from potential damage, but Frank Ocean though still doing well, has practically vanished. The best country singer of all time is k.d. lang who was absolutely not welcomed in country (but that's another world).
http://tasteofcountry.com/chely-wright-coming-out-career/
Anyway, wasn't Bruno Mars with a band, briefly.
Maxwell.
The line "especially former boy band singers" eliminates a lot these. I think Omarion is the only one I can think of that fits.
- Kanye isn't R&B (or won't be identified as such); ditto Drake. Neither were in boy-bands.
- Bruno Mars isn't Black.
- Maxwell wasn't in a Boy Band.
Usher was in a boyband briefly (NuBeginnings) but not long enough or big enough for anyone to remember. I still think Omarion fits the description the best. Lloyd was in a boy-band, too, and it was perhaps a little longer than Usher's as a 10 year old, but not sure it was big enough to play into his profile as an artist. Sisqo is one name not mentioned in here. He was part of Dru Hill, then became big as a solo artist (i.e., the 'Thong' song). He's had a lot of rumors about him over the years.
Omarion or jerimi
There's also Miguel.
I agree with live your life ...but Dru hill and Sisqo aren't relevant anymore and I feel like some would be like 'duh.' Omarion really isn't either but...I like JerimI (sp) for this one
Jeremih wasn't in a boy-band, either, though. The item didn't say they had to be that relevant now, per se. Omarion and Sisqo are at least not 50 years old (where the 'I'm a grown man' comment doesn't seem so dated). Omarion did gain fame as a kid, so he's still my top guess, but it's not with a high level of confidence.
R. KELLY......hmmmmm
Exactly! Ricky Martin? Adam Lambert? NO straight woman finds gay men to be a turn on. It's not homophobic! It's simple because gay men turns into family.
Elton has never appeared as a heart throb. Yes it did hurt George Michaels career. Like Ricky he waited close to the end, but also coming out was a nail in the coffin. If Ricky or George had stepped forward early in their career he would have not gotten far. Lance bass had said the female fans turned on him. It all depends on who you've sold to. If Justin beiber ever came out you'd hear crickets in his concert. He's made his liven through girls fantasies. (Sad but true)
When lead singer from REM came out nobody cared. He sells to a different age group and nobody was having fantasies for Elton John. A list of entertainers who's known for sex appeal and then lost fans after coming out is too high to count.
Bobby Brown. Whitney was gay so he probably was too....
You'll be surprised to see how many women still are " turned on" by Adam Lambert.
and yes, Ricky Martin isn't the heartthrob anymore, but when he did the coming out he was already old to be the that, so, it wasn't like he ruined his image all that.
I agree in some parts with your comment..but, there are some things to be considered
1 Lance Bass says that his fansbase " " turned on him" ?Well..that might depend also on the fact that he LIED to them for years, pretending to date women, to be straight, etc...Same can be said of Ricky, so, who knows if those fans would have turned on them if they didn't lie to them in the first place.
2 and about " made the living through girls", idk ,,here in Italy we have had a VERY successful artist, Tiziano ferro, he has came out after quite early in his career, is still very successful..point is...he never pretended too much, no fake girlfriends, no declarations to be UBER STRAIGHT and so on, and he has not had negative reactions. And another artist, VERY Fangirled after, he plays on the edge, maybe gay, maybe not, EVERYONE assumes he is gay, he hasn't lost his fanbase, made mostly of teenage girls. So, i wouldn't be so sure that coming out is a damage for a career, or all THAT damage, it depends how is done and how you conduct yourself before the coming out.
If there was ever a time for famous people to be brave and come out it would be now and fascist fervor sweeps America and the world and people's civil rights are taken away. I agree that backlash happens when there's been a history of obnoxious in your face bearding . Fans feel justifiably lied to. If someone has been cagey about putting a label on themselves and has left room for speculation so to speak people are much less irritated. For instance if Kevin spacey were to come out most people's reactions would be oh great for him, I thought he was out already? Then move on with their lives. He doesn't usually parade beards around and do nauseating stories in people magazine about how happy he and his beard and ivf born baby are. He just lives his life and doesn't say much either way. That's the difference.
Myabe it's similar to the reaction fans have when their crush gets married - like, that person is suddenly "unavailable" to them (at least back in ancient history), like Jackie Chan fans offing themselves when he got hitched.
I thought this had happened to Donnie Osmond too, but my memory is crap, of course.
Queen latifah is an example of a closeted lesbian who leaves things open to interpretation. If she formally came out it wouldn't be shocking because she hasn't closeted herself in a deep closet fake manufactured marriage/kids/magazine articles sort of way.
Had a #1 album that is near the top of pretty much every critics list for record of the year.
Making shit records and arrogantly not doing the promo game dealt with George Michael's career before the outing. Still, he has tens of millions and will still get millions more this xmas thanks to the best xmas song ever - 'last christmas'.
R&B Singer - Mario
Did coming out ruin Sam smith's career or did he sell a crap ton of records and a bizillon Grammy's? He can basically retire on his one record. If someone puts out a good record which connects heart to heart to other people, coming out won't hurt. If they put out crap and then cry and whine that coming out hurt their career, that's on them. Frank ocean has a hardcore group of fans who will support him and his music forever. He lives his life entirely on his own terms. Goes ghost for years. Comes back, drops music,drops a video or two. His core fans buy it. He lives his life sans bullshit. Freedom is the goal.
This is too easy. The titanic song: Celine Deion rhymes with : Omarion. His career is stalled so this might give him some forward momentum if he puts out some good music?
Drake was in a boy band called downtown Sasquatch. But I don't think it's him. He's a high earner for his record company and there's no way they'd let him come out, unfortunately. That would mean Serena would have to come out too etc. Bearding is like a human chain too many people are involved in the lies. From the managers, to the press that writes glowing heterosexual relationship headlines for people they know are gay. To the beards and models who would have no work.
Being R&B and a black artists, sales could see a significant drop off. If part of the reason this artists sells is because women find his body sexy or hes singing songs about making love that they relate to then they could easily stop supporting because their fantasy is gone
While Omarion, Usher and Ne-Yo are all perfect fits I really hope it's Chris Brown
Maybe it's Usher. That would be FANTASTIC. He was in a boyband called oceans 7. Better late than never if it is him.
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