Singer-songwriter James Blunt isn't fazed by fans and critics who mistake him for gay. In fact, the five-time Grammy nominee considers it a great honor.
"I sing songs that aren’t very macho, and so people will say, ‘Oh you’re effeminate,’ or ‘gay,’ as if calling me gay were an insult," Blunt, 41, told the BBC. "But to call me gay is a compliment."
He went on to joke that he'd like to be considered "an honorary gay man," primarily because "I’m totally at ease with myself."
Interestingly, the "You're Beautiful" singer sees much of his sensitive side as stemming from his earlier days in the British military, and as an armored reconnaissance officer in the NATO deployment in Kosovo.
"My job was going out there ahead of my commanders -- to go and find the enemy and locate the enemy," he said. "To do so, I had to be incredibly sensitive to the surroundings.”
Being less of a "macho" performer, he added, has its fringe benefits, too.
"If I’d been macho, I’d just have had an audience full of men," Blunt, who is expecting his first child with wife Sofia Wellesley, said. "By singing the songs I have, I have an audience full of women, and I'm happier that way around."
Although he may be straight, Blunt, who released his last album, "Moon Landing," in 2013, may have found a bromantic soul mate of sorts in fellow singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. In November, Sheeran joked that he and Blunt had gotten "engaged" after the pals strolled the red carpet at Australia’s Aria Awards hand-in-hand.
Also on HuffPost:
