Jake Shears: People tell me my songs have helped them — I’ll never get tired of it

Jake Shears says it is an “honour” to be a role model for gay youngsters — and that fans often tell him his style and music has helped them open up about their sexuality.

The Scissor Sisters frontman told A-List: “I hear people say, ‘When I was 13, you were the first gay queer artist I’d ever seen and it helped me in so many ways’. It’s so nice to hear. I’ll never get tired of it — it’s an honour.”

Praising the “stronger presence” of LGBT artists on the music scene today, he added: “The whole point is that you never know who’s going to be in the front row of one of your shows.

“There’ll always be young people out there who you’ve inspired who will do their own thing. You’re passing a spirit that will live on well past you.”

Shears, 39, today released his self-titled debut album, nearly six years after Scissor Sisters announced an indefinite hiatus. The American singer is currently putting on a string of HMV gigs across the UK, because he likes the country’s “eccentricity”.

“It’s always felt like an artistic home for me and a place where people really connected with the music I’ve written,” he added. “Coming back here always holds a certain comfort and homely vibe.”

Shears, who would love to collaborate with Brit and fellow LGBT artist Olly Alexander of Years and Years, said the new album is “very personal” and will open fans up to his “next chapter”.

He also revealed it contains a song he originally wrote for the musical The Greatest Showman, but it was never used. He said: “Years ago when Michael Gracey was starting direction on Greatest Showman I wrote a bunch of prospective songs with Babydaddy. I wrote some really fun songs that, of course, didn’t get used.

“The opening of this album is a little overture for one of the songs I wrote for Greatest Showman. It’s me saying I am the greatest showman. I am a showman. It’s what I live to do. It’s what I call myself.”