In 2017, in an interview with Us magazine, Johnny Mathis discussed something he has been silent about in over three decades. His sexuality. In 1982, also with Us magazine, Mathis came out by stating "Homosexuality is a way of life I've grown accustomed to." Following that article he went silent on this issue.
He shared in this recent interview that the reason he wouldn't discuss the issue was because of the numerous threats he received after he came out. But he appears once again ready to address this issue. In the new write up he claims, "I come from San Francisco. It's not unusual to be gay in San Francisco. I've had some girlfriends, some boyfriends, just like most people. But I never got married for instance. I knew that I was gay."
He also mentions that part of the reason for his silence was generational. Speaking publicly about being gay was just not something people from his generation would do.
In 2003, the Academy for Arts and Sciences awarded Mathis the Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for three seperate recording including "Chance Are" 1998, "Misty" 2002 and "It's Not for Me to Say" 2008.
Please check out one of my all time Mathis favorites, his duet with Deniece Williams, "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late."
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