R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has finally admitted he is gay.

The singing legend has been pretty vague about his sexuality for years, butt he said that he finally realized he could help other homosexuals by coming out.

“I recognize that to have public figures be very open about their sexuality helps some kid somewhere out there,” he tells a U.S. rock magazine.

Stipe – who has long denied rumors of a relationship with Morrissey – admits that his confusion over his sexuality has made it into his songs.

He said that his song 7 Chinese brothers was about him breaking up a couple and then dating both of them, a man and a woman, which he says is a terrible thing to do. “I was young and stupid,” he says.

WENN