Bearooth frontman Caleb Shomo has opened up regarding his sexuality, writing in an Instagram post Saturday, “I am proudly a gay man.”
“There’s been a lot of speculation surround my personal life as of late and I feel compelled to set the record straight before it affects those I love any further,” the post reads.
“This is something I’ve been unpacking and reckoning with in my life for quite some time now,” Shomo continues. “It’s been difficult to navigate the feelings surrounding the subject and figure out what to do with this fact.”
Shomo notes that with Beartooth’s music, he’s “always strived to chase who I am in the deepest part of my soul from album to album,” resulting in four “very self deprecating albums about exploring my religious upbringing, depression, self hatred, self loathing and hopelessness.”
“I am grateful for all these albums, yet feel embarrassed at times that I wouldn’t allow myself to really dig up the roots for so long,” he writes. “I spent a decade burying feelings with alcohol, and honestly when I decided to put it down and focus on exploring why I felt this way for so long, it’s been a direct path to me reconciling with my sexuality in hopes that it will eventually lead to me experiencing self love.”
With Beartooth’s upcoming album, Pure Ecstasy, Shomo says he decided that “whatever happens, I will express myself whole heartedly and fully.”
“I believe it’s impossible to love every part of you when you won’t face every part of you head on,” he writes. “I am trying to finally be proud of who I am and I think this is a massive part of that journey.”
Pure Ecstasy is due out Aug. 28.
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