33-year-old Swedish singer Darin Zanyar–generally known by only his first name commercially–just came out of the closet.
Darin made the announcement on Facebook and Instagram, revealing to the world that he is a gay man.
“Everyone in the world should be able to be proud and accepted for who they are,” Darin writes in the post. “I know how difficult it can be. Took me a while, but I am proud to be gay. Happy pride!”
Related: Singer Avery Wilson comes out as bisexual on his 25th birthday
Though born in Sweden, Darin is of Kurdish descent, born to two Iraqi emigres. He first burst onto the pop scene in 2004 with an appearance on Swedish Idol, where he placed second in the season competition. He was just 16 at the time.
Darin found his career prospects budding with the release of his album The Anthem in 2005. His first single, “Money for Nothing,” penned by the pop star Robyn went to #1 on the Swedish charts. He followed up with another album, Darin, later that year.
Darin hit a new level of fame in 2013 when he performed at the Eurovision Song Contest outside of the competition. He continues to release music in English and his native tongue. His most recent single, “Identitetslös” deals with his search for identity as the son of immigrants in Sweden. He’s described the track as his most personal to date.
charlie_jackpot
Why have I never come out? Because I’m not good looking or talented
iowadude
… poor Charlie ((FFS))
Donston
The internet is always gonna focus quite a bit more on good-looking and younger people and “famous” people. You would think that a “queer site” would be more leery of constantly promoting exceptionalism and conventional masculinity as the aspiration and presenting everything else as sad or a joke. But these sites just don’t have that forethought. Besides, it’s all about clicks.
bluewindboy
As a Kurd, this can’t be easy for him. Kudos!
Neoprene
Sweet lookin Swede.
FridM
Cute…not all Swedes are blonde and blue like me. Diversity is good…. however, I prefer blondes. Honestly, guys could be from any ethnic background. Cute is cute.
Yooper
Glad he is in a place where he can be himself.
Flyiboy
This is nothing new.. We Swedes already knew and celebrated him years ago..He was hoping to make it “BIG” in the music industry but unfortunately it wasn’t the case ..
Raphael
Which is a pity, he has the voice for it. I used to follow his career and listen to his music, but the lyrics were really bad… at least the songs were well produced, the “Flashback” album sounds good even today. I stopped listen to his music, since he no longer sings in english and I don’t understand a thing he’s saying LOL. His last albums sound good, more of an acoustic vibe, I just hope the lyrics are better than the english ones were.
nm4047
Christ take the wheel, Helen Keller would have picked this one as gay.
nitejonboy
Dude, going to places that exploit monkeys for tourists ? Not cool!! Monkeys and chimps and primates are not there for our fukin entertainment!!