People News

Clive Davis praises Frank Ocean for honesty

Feb 27, 2013, 20:01 GMT

Clive Davis

Clive Davis credits Frank Ocean for giving him the courage to reveal his bisexuality.

The music mogul - who confessed in his new memoir 'The Soundtrack to My Life' to having sexual relationships with men after divorcing his second wife in 1985 - is grateful that the hip-hop community have embraced the 'Pyramids' singer, who revealed last summer that his first love was a man, and Clive believes his honesty has helped move the music industry forward.

The 80-year-old producer told theGrio.com: 'I discuss bisexuality [in the book] because it's so misunderstood. For me later in life I could be attracted to a woman, I could be attracted to man. Each story is different. I'm very gratified in the case of Frank Ocean that the hip-hop community has embraced him. And maybe we're reaching that time where people can judge everyone without reference to their sexual preference or identity.'

Clive - who was the late Whitney Houston's former manager and discovered the 'I Will Always Love You' hitmaker when she was just 20 - previously revealed that his bisexuality came as a surprise to him.

He said: 'For over 50 years, I never had sex with a male. It wasn't repressed - I had very good sexual relationships with women. Never for me ... this very maligned and misunderstood subject of bisexuality came up.'

He also confessed to having a 13-year relationship with a doctor and a seven-year relationship with another man.