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Tevin Campbell has been a respected R&B musician and performer since he came onto the scene as a tween in the 90s.
Even still, the singer’s private life and sexuality have been shielded from his fans for decades — although they’ve been the topics of much speculation.
In a recent interview on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast, Campbell opened up more candidly than ever about how he sexually identifies.
“When I came out to my family and friends [at] about 19 or 20, that was it for me. And then I went on the road of discovering myself. I didn’t know who I was,” Campbell said.
Speaking about his decision to step away from the music industry to spend time performing on Broadway and find himself, the singer said “being around people who were like me — LGBTQ+ people who were living normal lives and had partners — I had never seen that.”
“That was a great time in my life,” Campbell added.
The artist’s move to address his sexuality comes after he responded to a Twitter user’s question on how he identifies with a rainbow emoji earlier this year.
“It was a casual thing for me,” he said of the tweet. “I love my fans, but what they think about my sexuality is of no importance to me.”
Campbell On Today’s Music Industry And His Personal Growth
The artist also commented on how much the industry has changed regarding its representation of Black, male LGBTQ artists since his musical rise.
“It wasn’t like that in the ’90s,” Campbell said with a laugh. “But I’m glad I get to see it. I’m glad that’s changing. There are a lot of kids, especially young Black boys that need to see representation.”
“What makes me happiest right now is how far I’ve come in life,” he said elsewhere in the interview. “You know, there are a lot of child stars that don’t make it. But a lot of us do… and the fact that I’ve embraced me.”
Addressing his past in the industry, Campbell added, “I just kind of wanted to be me, you know?”
“I didn’t hide anything about me. I didn’t try to act a certain way or anything,” he noted. “You just couldn’t be [gay] back then.”
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