Lance Bass comes out

Lance Bass, formerly of the boyband N*Sync, came out today and announced that he is dating Amazing Race 4th season winner and model Reichen Lehmkuhl. It has long been speculated that Lance is gay--I had a friend in college that insisted on it, meanwhile everyone else was wrongly pointing fingers at Justin Timberlake. His relationship with Reichen has been somewhat public over the last few months, and the two took a very out-in-the-open vacation to gay destination Provincetown, Mass. a couple of weeks ago. Check out Reichen here: http://ihatewheat.wordpress.com/2006/07/26/no-surprises/

Lance is perhaps the biggest male American pop star to come out so far, but he's certainly not alone. "Out" gay pop/rock American acts include Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, the Indigo Girls, Jake Shears (Scissor Sisters), Jim Verraros (American Idol), RuPaul, Fred Schneider (B-52's), and Linda Perry. Michael Stipe is out too, but it isn't clear if he's gay or bi. Most of these acts had their biggest hits before coming out, with the notable exception of some of the women, such as Melissa Etheridge, who came out and then scored huge hits with "I'm the Only One" and "I Want to Come Over." k.d. lang also had her biggest hit post-coming out with "Constant Craving." Shears has had huge hits in the UK as an out artist, but not in the US.

Abroad, there appears to be more openly gay artists--particularly men--that have continued to be big hitmakers since coming out. George Michael came out in 1998, and went on to score a number of big hits, including "Outside," "As," and "Amazing." Elton John has also had continued success as an out artist, most recently with a #1 hit in 2003, "Are You Ready For Love." Biggest of all recently is Will Young, who came out while his first single, "Evergreen" was #1, and went on to score four more #1 singles and five other top 10 hits, including this year's "All Time Love."

Lance also isn't the only boyband member to come out. First up was former Irish Boyzone member Stephen Gately, who came out after the band broke up and had a top 10 hit, "New Beginning." Mark Feehily of Westlife, also an Irish act, came out last year, and then the band went on to score one of their biggest #1 hits, "You Raise Me Up." Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Savage Garden, and Dead or Alive all have out lead singers.