King’s X’s Dug Pinnick recalls coming out as gay

King's X Dug Pinnick — (Image credit: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)

King’s X’s Dug Pinnick has recalled the moment he publicly came out as gay to a major Christian magazine due to being tired of the religion's "whole hypocrisy".

When questioned in the latest issue of Classic Rock in an interview with writer Dave Steinfeld as to whether he faced more backlash from the hard rock community or the church after he opened up about his sexuality, Pinnick responded "I faced no backlash from the hard rock community. I never made a statement [or] a press announcement.

"It was just, I was doing an interview for this major Christian magazine. They started talking and I just thought: 'You know, I’m so tired of these Christians and the whole hypocrisy. I’m just gonna tell ’em I’m gay and get it over with.'"

"Even to this day it’s not an issue. I’ve never had any backlash from anyone. Except when the article came out" he continued. "That was the point where King’s X records were banned from Christian music stores. When that happened we went 'Great! Now we can get away from this Christian stigma.'"

Speaking of the band's previous ties with the Christian rock genre, the frontman said, "For some reason, King’s X [was considered] a Christian band. Maybe because that was our faith at the time; none of us are any more. Jesus Christ is not my Lord and saviour."

Elsewhere in the interview, Pinnick opens up about his upcoming new music, including a new King's X album, his solo work and a blues side project that sounds like "ZZ Top dropped to C'.

The whole interview can be found in the new issue of Classic Rock, which also features new interviews with Deep Purple, Jerry Cantrell, Rush, Justin Hawkins and much more. Pick up your copy now.

Liz manages Louder's social media channels and works on keeping the sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.