CLEVELAND — Corry Michaels, 24, has been dreaming about hearing his songs on the radio since he was a young boy.

“I've been writing songs since I was like 8 or 9 years old — right after I started playing piano — and so it has always been a goal of mine, a dream of mine,” said Michaels. 

It’s a goal, though he feared would be crushed before it even began if people knew he was gay.

“I think, right now, it's Pride Month, and it's so important to kind of highlight how difficult coming out truly is, you know, it's not an easy

front, it's not an easy pill to swallow," said Michaels.

Michaels was adopted at as an 8-year-old and is the son of a pastor. Fear of judgement and rejection held him back. It took him years to not only figure out his sexuality, but accept it. 

“I hated that people were defining me before I could define myself, which made me want to instinctively prove them wrong,” said Michaels. “So if they were telling me that I was gay, I was determined to prove that I was straight.

“I was afraid. I was confused. Societal peer pressures, maybe a little bit of like my religion and understanding that it felt like something wrong. But more importantly, and the most important thing, it was like, I didn't accept myself. I won't even say that I was the last person to know that I was gay. But I was the last person to accept that I was gay.” 

His love for music though propelled him forward.

“I came out officially on Jan. 1, 2020,” said Michaels. “I had to be willing and ready to accept pretty much whatever outcome was going to happen. But all for the sake of self-love, you know what I mean? I can’t have love from everybody else and not love myself, it's not going to work.”

Fast forward a few months and he said coming out has been the best thing he’s done for himself. He released a new album “Give All Yourself,” which forms the acronym GAY. 

“The original meaning of gay was happy,,” said Michaels. “It didn't have anything to do with sexual orientation, the original meaning of gay was happy. And in order to be happy, you have to give all of yourself.” 

The songs are written based on his own life experiences. They tell the story of who he is and are dedicated to anyone who's ever had to come out or struggle with sexuality and acceptance. 

“My album cover is a puzzle piece. Me being gay is only a small portion of who I am. It doesn't define everything about me. But that puzzle piece, that piece of me is truly a beautiful piece. It isn’t something I should be hiding,” said Michaels. “I’m dedicating this to all the people who have ever had to kind of even go through this process and just let them know that they are loved. That you are special, you are a one in a million.”

Michaels and his band have already found success and they’re performing at Cleveland Pride for the second consecutive year.

“Since I've come out, I've released an album. I've been on the radio, I've been featured in several publications, I've got to perform on various stages,” said Michaels. 

More important than finding success, Michaels has found himself friends and bandmates who couldn’t be more proud. 

“He's able to be 100% himself and not be apologetic for it,” said Robert Morrow, his best friend and musical director. “I've never been able to be there more for my friend than I am right now. So I'm kind of, I'm kind of happy and appreciative that I'm in this position. I'm so proud of my friend. I'm so proud of us as a unit. Because of how far we come. It’s just great.”

Michaels is ecstatic about his journey.

“It's all been worth it. Because now I am the most secure and the most confident, and the most self-aware of self that I've ever been, which is honestly all I could ask for, you know, I mean, what do we want out of life as a person, I want to know myself, I want to love myself, and I want to be happy,” added Michaels. 

Discovering who he is and accepting himself was his greatest challenge so far. But he’s found the rainbow after the rain and wants his music to inspire others to do the same.   

“I can't make you accept yourself. But I can create a space for you to feel comfortable enough for you to explore yourself,” said Michaels. “Self-acceptance, self-evaluation, self-love, is really the most important thing and not so much what other people feel. Because whether they accept you or not, it's about how you accept yourself. You will be okay. I can't promise that because you know, there's one in a million chances. But I truly, truly believe if you really just put your steps in order and surround yourself with good people, you can be okay.”

Michaels’ Cleveland Pride performance will be posted on his YouTube channel.

June 7 Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to reflect Corry Michaels came out in the beginning of 2020, not 2021.