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Savage Garden's Darren Hayes Announces Split From Husband Of 17 Years
The singer shared the news, and the reason behind their breakup, on Instagram.
ICYMI Darren Hayes and Richard Cullen have announced their split after 17 years of marriage.
Hayes, who made up one-half of the popular ’90s musical duo Savage Garden, took to Instagram this week to let fans know that he and Cullen, a British animator, had actually separated earlier this year.
Writing that they have “chosen to accept that our union has gently and beautifully come to rest,” the singer alluded to it being a decision two years in the making, and insisted there was nothing sinister at play in their breakup.
“There’s no scandal to report, no infidelity, guilty or third party,” he said. “It’s just life. We adore each other and always will. We view our marriage as our greatest collaboration. Nobody can ever take away what we achieved together.”
Hayes came out publicly in 2006, a year after he and Cullen were married and several years after the breakup of Savage Garden. Though he is best known for his time in the band, creating hits still loved by millennial fans such as Truly Madly Deeply and I Knew I Loved You, the singer has continued to enjoy a successful solo career.
In a 2022 interview promoting his fifth studio album, Homosexual, Hayes admitted that he was “trying to be outed” after coming to terms with his sexuality during his time with Savage Garden, calling out “breadcrumbs” he left in his songs and the way he had tried to keep his early marriage to his college girlfriend Colby Taylor a secret from the press.
“She was the person who really said to me, ‘You need to go,’” he said of Taylor at the time, praising how she handled his coming out. “And I didn't want to. I was prepared to stay forever and just be kind of half a person. But she didn't want that for me.”
“I think part of me coming back with music that's sort of unapologetically gay is a chance for me to sit in this situation and try to receive some of this love and accept it for who I truly am,” he added.
Yes, Hayes's fifth studio album and subsequent tour marks a return to music after a hiatus from his solo career.
Hayes has said that he and his former Savage Garden band member no longer speak.
Hayes came out in 2006.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
Rachel Kiley is presumably a writer and definitely not a terminator. She can usually be found crying over queerbaiting in the Pitch Perfect franchise or on Twitter, if not both.
