Ocean Colour Scene’s Simon Fowler opens up about being outed as gay by tabloids in the ’90s
nme.comOcean Colour Scene frontman Simon Fowler has opened up about being outed as gay by the tabloids in the 1990s.Speaking in a new interview for NME’s Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?!
when asked about The Sun revealing his sexuality in 1998, Fowler said: “I don’t think it was a big deal. It was noticeable that our third album [1997’s] ‘Marchin’ Already’ went to Number One and knocked Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’ off the top spot – which is when Noel Gallagher sent us a plaque: ‘Congratulations to the second greatest band in the world’.“But the album didn’t end up selling anywhere near as much as its predecessor, ‘Moseley Shoals’, overall.
Whether that [The Sun’s outing] had anything to do with it, I don’t know. I suspect it didn’t. It certainly didn’t affect our concerts.”He continued: “Looking back now, it seems absurd – and I don’t think anybody gave a toss even then.
In fact, when it happened, the first thing Liam Gallagher did was come up and kiss me on the lips! [Laughs] Everybody knew – apart from my parents.
