Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo has publicly come out as gay, writing in a Saturday social media statement that he wanted to “set the record straight” after recent speculation about his personal life. The announcement arrives as Beartooth are moving into their Pure Ecstasy era, a rollout that has already pushed the band’s visual and musical palette into brighter, flashier territory.
I am a proudly gay man.
Loudwire published Shomo’s statement in full. In it, he writes that he has been “unpacking and reckoning with” his sexuality for some time and connects that process to the next Beartooth album, saying he decided before writing the record that he would express himself fully and refuse to water any part of it down.
Shomo also points back to the darker emotional terrain of Beartooth’s earlier albums, writing that the band’s first four records dealt with “religious upbringing, depression, self hatred, self loathing, and hopelessness.” He says quitting alcohol and trying to understand why he felt that way eventually led him toward “reconciling with my sexuality in hopes that it will eventually lead to me experiencing self love.”
The context matters because the reaction to Beartooth’s recent single “Free” got ugly. Loudwire notes that the song and video drew mixed reactions for its poppier sound and Shomo’s flashy outfits and makeup, including a homophobic joke from Attila frontman Chris Fronzak, who later apologized.
Beartooth’s new album Pure Ecstasy is due August 28 via Fearless Records, according to Consequence, and the band will support it with a fall U.S. tour featuring Don Broco, Magnolia Park, and Windwaker. Consequence also reports that Pure Ecstasy is the band’s sixth studio album and follows 2023’s The Surface.
This is personal news, but it is also band news in the clearest possible way: Shomo is tying identity, sobriety, self-expression, and Beartooth’s next chapter together himself. The best response is not speculation or victory-lap discourse. It is taking him at his word and letting the music meet the person making it.