"First of all, it took me a long time to even accept that I was gay," says Hayes."And then it took me a long time to be happy that I was gay. We're successful, number 1s in America, and I'm now travelling around the world, and these crushes on men are getting more and more intense," says Hayes."I think his voice is so recognizable, and those two songs..two years they didn't leave the airwaves," says Taylor.Like Carole King's 'Tapestry' and David Gray's 'White Ladder', 'This Delicate Thing We've Made' has the feel of something made for the sheer love of it, without any consideration for radio play or fitting into formats or pleasing a major label.
Hayes left that scared little boy behind, married his best friend, became one half of the massively successful Australian duo Savage Garden, enjoyed hit records and sold-out shows, and then--and only then--finally admitted that his lifelong attraction to men and those intense crushes actually meant something.The cover band they initially performed in broke up, leading the two to form their own duo, named after a passage from Anne Rice's novel, "The Vampire Lestat". It was then that Leonie Messer--Hayes's publicist and/or manager for about a decade and best friend--asked the question Hayes had refused to ask himself. My secret feelings for men were in this drawer in my head. But I think both of us hoped, thought, we'll be together. '" Hayes never worried about being recognized when hitting the bars or going out on dates. I just dated these emotionally abusive, overpowering, gruff men who took care of me from a parental sense, in a stern kind of sense, but were not emotional, were never demonstrative." For reasons they rarely discuss, Savage Garden broke up after two albums. Everyone said, 'We're really, really sorry.' I was icy; I was just icy. I got into the [car] and I slumped down into my seat and I just... That was the moment where I just thought, 'OK, this is a problem now. You can say it's just a bit of paper, but it's so much more than that.In 1997, Hayes married Colby, and Savage Garden's first single, "I Want You," hit the charts, becoming the best-selling singlein Australia that year and a top 5 U. "She sat me down in her office and she said, 'Are you gay? I was just about to come home when I met someone and I had a relationship. "I was running away from Australia, fame, a marriage, all that stuff. It was such a caring, sweet, and great way to be gay. He never got burned publicly, even though he was dating men in New York and later in San Francisco. Hayes's marriage was over, his love life was lack luster, and his first solo album--2002's 'Spin'--made little impression. "When the interview [was over] I just said to the journalist, who was an openly gay man [cohost Simon Amstell], "That was really uncool. To be able to stand up in front of your community, the people that you respect and love, and become valid in society's eyes it is like this safety net in your relationship."I Knew" topped the AC charts for 17 weeks; each song set a new record for its length of time on the charts.Chuck Taylor, a senior correspondent for Billboard and a longtime Hayes supporter, says the time is ripe for a comeback.