Wils is singing a different tune these days: The Singaporean pop star, born Willie Tay and previously known as Willtay, publicly came out as gay with his new single, “Open Up Babe.” According to The Rainbow Times, Wils is the first openly gay Chinese singer.
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“About two years ago, I was trying to write a couple of songs, and I just felt like I couldn’t be myself, being in the closet,” Wils explains in a new Billboard interview. “I felt like it just affected a large part of my life, like hanging out with friends and family, I was just constantly living in a lie. I decided that I was going to take a two-year break, and I’ll find myself and who I am and unlearn the fears I had since I was a kid. So ultimately, when all was said and done, I came to that point, and I decided that this was the best way to let my fans know.”
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Wils’ music label in Asia dropped him as an artist after he came out of the closet, as he said on YouTube, so he released “Open Up Babe” and its music video — which stars his boyfriend, according to Gay Times — independently.
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“It’s about being truthful to yourself, and that sometimes, when we live in fear, we’re not able to enjoy the truth and the beautiful things in life,” he tells Billboard of the song. “So it’s about finding that truth and accepting yourself. From there on, you just have to focus on living in the moment and enjoying life.”
Billy Budd
Willy-Tay, that is a nice name.
ingyaom
It is (or was) Wiltay, not Willtay … and I was in Malibu where that video was filmed a couple of months ago.
Morrisson
Not my cup of tea. The lyrics are quite infantile it’s almost like he lost any meaning as the focus was on finding words that rhyme.
Catholicslutbox
Isn’t that what all pop music is?
Donston
The video is quite corny, and the song is not very catchy or appealing. This certainly doesn’t make “gay” look cool or edgy. However, they do make a hot couple. And he’ll have a bit more international appeal with this outing.
Prax07
Didn’t know asian guys could grow stubble like that, he’s cute.
Kangol2
Google “Asian men stubble.” Quite a few. You’d be surprised.
DCguy
Every article mentions that he was dropped from his record label, and yet NONE of the articles state which company it is. An early article said he was Dropped by Warner music Singapore, but then the article was sanitized.
This is the problem with corporate media, they won’t report facts that could damage stock prices of any of their subsidiaries.
Donston
Making money, being politically correct and not getting sued takes precedence above all else when it comes to modern media, especially these frivolous “queer sites”. There really isn’t any point in fighting it. When you want greater insight and a more fleshed out view of things you need to go to multiple sources and use your own common sense.
dali
If he’s a star in Singapore, then their music must be crap. More like Sing-a-Poor.
moonie
No he isn’t a star in Singapore, this is the first time i have even heard of him. He is more like an inspiring star but there isn’t a need to be bitchy about it. Tons of famous stars have lots of crappy songs too.
PollyDarton
Has Britney Spears seen the video? She’s gonna be mad as he stole her autotune.
Morrisson
It’s been bugging me who the boyfriend reminds me of. I realise now, he is like a clone of a clone of a clone of Sam Smith, a la Multiplicity
asby
I don’t think that is his BF…I think it’s just some model for the video
sweetnovember
It’s not a Grammy award material, but it is not that bad either. Mostly will fly u detected by many
Luvstoread
Good grief! That singing was painful, but the boyfriend is the only good thing about the video.