Will Young has revealed he was forced to re-record one of his signature songs, because record executives felt he sounded “too gay” on the original cut.
The chart-topping singer came out in 2002, shortly after his ‘Pop Idol’ victory, beating a national newspaper, which planned to out him, to the punch.
The following year, Will hit the number-one spot with his track ‘Leave Right Now’, but in a new interview with The Telegraph, he explained that label bosses made him record the song twice, after they criticised that his vocals were “too gay”.
Will’s most recent studio album, ‘85% Proof’, topped the UK charts upon its release in 2015, and since then, the singer has taken some time out from music, starring in a touring production of ‘Cabaret’ last month.
He’s also started his own podcast, ‘Homo Sapiens’, which deals which issues facing the LGBT+ community, and has featured high-profile guests including activist Peter Tatchell, former ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Queer As Folk’ showrunner Russell T Davies and leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.
As well as LGBT+ issues, Will, who has suffered from bouts of PTSD, anxiety and addiction issues in the past, has devoted himself to raising awareness of subjects around mental health, discussing the importance of mindfulness in an interview with HuffPost UK last year.