Darren Hayes’ latest single All You Pretty Things is a tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
On June 12, 2016, 49 people were killed and 53 others wounded in a brutal mass shooting at the LGBTQ+ venue, after a gunman opened fire during a “Latin Night”.
Announcing the release of his new track, lifted from the new album ‘Homosexual’, Darren opened up about its significance in a statement on social media.
“In 2016, 49 people lost their lives at the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida,” he penned. “Like all of you I was devastated by the horror of this violent act upon the mostly Latin LGBTQ+ community.
“‘All You Pretty Things’ is my tribute to those we lost.”
‘Homosexual’ is out October 7 and available to pre-order now. Darren will play live dates across Australia and the UK beginning January 2023.
Darren recently released Poison Blood, his third single since staging a comeback earlier this year, and opened up about his new music in the May 2022 edition of Retro Pop, admitting life as a pop star today is more enjoyable than it was back in the 1990s. .
“The gay experience really hit me and really touched me, because I finally understood that wow, I was 24, 25, 26, at the height of my fame, therefore I was most famous when I was still struggling with my self-identification,” he says.
“I had all this attention thrust at me when I didn’t know who the fuck I was. I had been married to a woman I was divorcing but in private. Most people didn’t even know I had been married to a woman and yet I was coming out and trying to express myself through my fashion, through all my Jean-Paul Gautier outfits, and painting my nails.
“I was so struggling with my sexuality and trying to find my place in a world before ‘Drag Race’, ‘Will & Grace’, Lil Nas X, Troye Sivan, or Will Young. Those people and pioneers didn’t really exist.”
The increase in representation and an increasingly diverse media landscape marks a welcome change from the climate in which Darren found early success, which he admits was “stifling”.
“My experience of being a pop star in the ‘90s was, ‘You’re fine as long as you’re not gay.’ You had all these boybands and teen heartthrobs but god forbid if you’re gay,” he explains. “It was incredibly suffocating and for me, as someone who was literally buried by a major label the minute I came out, it was incredibly stifling.”
The hitmaker adds: “There was a huge pressure back then to ‘out’ people and the misconception about me is that I was in the closet, but nothing could have been further from the truth. I was out, I tried to be so much more out because I thought, if I just came out, it would solve all my problems.
“It took me a long time to have self-love and get rid of the toxic shame in the internalised homophobia that a lot of gay men have to go through to come out on the other side and love themselves. I was very depressed and had suicidal thoughts during that period and, had social media been around that time, I don’t know if I’d be here. It was a really tough time for me. I did as well as I could, I’m proud of the fact that I lived an authentic life and throughout my music, even during the Savage Garden days, I was really desperately trying and asking for help in my songs.”
Now, however, things are different, and it’s a relief for the superstar to return to the stage in 2022 and feel liberated to present his authentic self.
“It’s much more vibrant and liberating to be an artist today… I never fell out of love with music, I think it was the industry actually,” he believes, adding, “I’m sure a 23-year-old will listen to my story and be surprised there was a time when you couldn’t be gay.”
READ MORE: Darren Hayes: ‘The ‘90s was stifling – it’s much more liberating to be an artist today!’
