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Darren Hayes

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On June 19, 2006, Darren Hayes quietly entered into a civil partnership with his boyfriend of three years, Richard Cullen, in London.  Less than one month later, his record label announced that they had parted ways with Darren after 10 years and 24 million album sales together.  Then, less than two weeks later, Darren decided to come out of the closet on his official website.

Coming to terms with his homosexuality was not easy for Darren who was raised by an abusive, distant, and alcoholic father in a blue collar neighborhood in Brisbane, Australia.  Darren realized that he might be gay at age 11, but like many young gay men, he tried very hard to repress it and ignore it, even going so far as to getting married to a woman which lasted only one year.  After making it big as the singer in Australian pop duo Savage Garden, there was even more pressure on him to stay in the closet. 

“My whole career as a big commercial pop artist was fed through self-hatred, basically. It was all about escapism in a fraudulent way. I became a pop star because I knew I had to become something extraordinary to escape”.

If you trace a line through the work of both Savage Garden and Darren Hayes solo, there is a recurring theme of being unloved and unlovable. It is part of what connects him at his most popular to a mass audience. If Darren is a master at articulating the simple sentiment of what it feels like to be rejected, it does not come without its own poignant back-story.

Now at 35, feeling free at last, and totally in love with his life partner, he can start a new chapter in his life.  And to kick off that new chapter, Hayes finished recording his third solo album This Delicate Thing We've Made in 2007. The CD is a double-disc, comprised of 25 tracks. The album is set to be released on August 20, 2007 on Hayes' own record label Powdered Sugar, while the first single "On the Verge of Something Wonderful" was released in Australia on July 28, 2007 and in the UK and online on August 6, 2007.

On April 9, 2007, Hayes released the album track "Who Would Have Thought?" from This Delicate Thing We've Made as a teaser track on his official website, as well as his MySpace profile. This was accompanied by an animation for the song created by his partner, animator and director, Richard Cullen. Around April 2007, remixes of the album track "Step into the Light" were being played in clubs around the world. The album version of "Step into the Light" was released as a teaser on Hayes' official website and MySpace on April 30, 2007.

During the first half of 2007, Hayes performed selected songs from the album in small exclusive gigs around the world. Tickets for several of these much sought after shows sold out in under ten minutes. In June 2007, Hayes embarked on a small tour of USA and Canada stopping in New York, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, along with the band Temposhark. The shows were well received with very positive reviews.

On June 30, 2007, Hayes headlined the London Gay Pride at Trafalgar Square.  He performed "I Want You" and "On the Verge of Something Wonderful".

In July 2007, Hayes announced The Time Machine Tour that would start out in the UK, and then move on to Hayes' home country Australia.

On July 29, 2007, "On the Verge of Something Wonderful" was the most selected music video on The Box in the UK. It debuted at number 20 in the UK singles chart despite being rejected for airplay by all the major UK radio stations.

Asked if he and Richard have considered raising children, Darren confirmed: "Absolutely, I'd love to adopt in the next five years or so. I'm not ready to give a child 100 per cent of my attention just yet, but I know I will be one day."