Michael Stipe says he's '80' per cent gay

The REM frontman has enjoyed relationships with both men and women in the past but says it wasn't until meeting his current boyfriend that he realised he preferred men.

He said: "On a sliding scale of sexuality I'd place myself around 80-20, but I definitely prefer men to women. I had sex with, and enjoyed sex with, women until I met someone that I fell in love with, and who is now my boyfriend."

The 51-year-old singer admits his sexuality led to him feeling as if he didn't fit in anywhere while he was a young man in the 80s.

He told The Observer newspaper: "I wasn't troubled or confused, but I just felt there wasn't a place for me. I hate and refuse to apply the term bisexual to myself. It doesn't seem appropriate. It feels like just another label.

For a time I was conflicted by how I was represented, and then AIDS came, and that's an era that has still be to be spoken about in depth by people of my age. It was a very difficult time to be honest and frank about one's sexuality. And a very scary time for people like myself, who were not able to be tested anonymously without some concern."

- BANG! Showbiz