Darren Hayes Opens Up About His Struggle With His Sexuality At Height Of Savage Garden’s Success
etcanada.comDarren Hayes is sharing his story of struggle with mental health as part of one of the biggest music groups of the 90’s. The former Savage Garden member opened up about the band’s success and how their popularity unintentionally added pressure to the singer.
Hayes is now proudly open with his sexuality as a member of the gay community, but back then, his denial drove him into as deep depression. “To the casual observer, I appeared confident, full of swagger with my vaguely ’70s blow wave and a blue-black dye job that could rival Elvis in his prime,” he recalled in a deeply personal op-ed in HuffPost. “But my bravado was a carefully crafted persona, built to protect me from years of bullying at school, denial and shame about my sexuality, and a mask to hide the rapidly increasing depression that would soon become overwhelming.” READ MORE: Adele Borrows Pride Flag From Fans For Performance Before Inviting Them To Watch From The Side Of The Stage He revealed that while his crisis over his sexuality was part of the reason for his struggle, he alleged that an unstable home environment from his abusive, alcoholic father also contributed to his declining mental health. “Nobody could have known any of this as they watched me on Rosie [O’Donnell’s] couch.
Savage Garden was on the precipice of global fame and would go on to sell 26 million albums, have two Billboard No. 1 singles and tour the world,” he shared. “Yet no one knew I was deeply unhappy, barely containing secrets that would soon devastate me emotionally and send me to the brink of suicide at the height of my fame.” Hayes carefully cultivated a persona that wouldn protect him from the public discovering his secrets, especially in a time that wasn’t hospitable to
