‘Neon Trees’ Group Singer Comes Out (Sleeping with a friend)
Neon Trees
Courtesy of Island/Def Jam
Neon Trees frontman Tyler Glenn is coming out to the public via a Rolling Stone article, the magazine announced Monday.
The 30-year-old admits that he kept his sexuality a secret, and didn't come to terms with it completely until the past decade. "I had my crushes on guys throughout high school, but it was never an overwhelming thing until my twenties," he says. “Then I'd be dating girls and in love with my straight friend and it was the worst feeling in the world."
He began sharing his sexual orientation with family and friends in October 2013, as he was polishing songs of the band's upcoming release, "Pop Psychology," which touches on his years in secrecy.
The Utah singer grew up in the Mormon faith, which is against homosexuality and actively spent approximately $22 million to fight gay marriage in California in 2008. "We were always taught, and I hate this word, 'tolerance,'" he says of the religion. “The only time that felt different was when the Prop 8 thing came up."
SEAN P. MEANS:
Tyler Glenn, frontman for the Provo-based pop-rock band Neon Trees, knew when he was a kid growing up Mormon in California that he was gay.
"I had my crushes on guys throughout high school, but it was never an overwhelming thing until my twenties," Glenn said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “Then I’d be dating girls and in love with my straight friend and it was the worst feeling in the world."
Rolling Stone announced the headlines of the magazine’s interview with Glenn online today. The full interview will be posted online Tuesday, and will appear in the upcoming issue hitting newsstands on Friday.
In the interview, Glenn talks about his first gay experiences, the reaction of his bandmates to his coming out, and his "complicated relationship" with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which he grew up.
"We were always taught, and I hate this word, ‘tolerance,’" Glenn said of the LDS Church’s policies regarding homosexuality. "The only time that felt different was when the Prop 8 thing came up," he said, referring to the 2008 anti-gay-marriage ballot measure in California — a campaign to which LDS Church members contributed some $22 million.
Glenn’s coming-out process has been gradual, starting with family and friends last October, as he was writing songs for the band’s upcoming album, "Pop Psychology" (to be released April 22).
Neon Trees will enjoy its first headlining tour this summer, which includes a homecoming show June 16 at The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City.
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