Mr. Roboto goes gay

Chuck Panozzo, of the rock supergroup Styx -- you know, "Lady," "Babe," "Show me the Way" and "Come Sail Away" -- is out.

"Panozzo still plays bass for the group, the first musical act to ever have four consecutive triple platinum albums, that remains one of the most popular musical acts in history. Styx still plays scores of dates per year, often as a double bill with other classic acts like Journey, REO Speedwagon or Kansas.... And they still attract sell-out crowds that are now multi-generational."

Sadly, Panozzo thinks this has everything to do with talent, instead of simple boomer nostalgia for their youth (and youth obsession with irony): "We have lasting appeal because we play melodies that people can hum, and we have lyrics that are meaningful," Panozzo says. "Nobody is fabricating our songs through us, nobody is making us through 'American Idol.'"

And here's the gay stuff: "In the early years of Styx [in the 1970s], Panozzo says, the other members of the band knew he was gay and quietly accepted it. Because there was so much sex on the road, and because many of the band members were married, most of the sexual exploits of the band members were kept quiet. So on the occasion that Panozzo brought a guy back to his hotel room, that was done discreetly and quietly as well, he says....

"Panozzo describes it as being similar to the 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy of the armed forces."

When Styx got back together in 1996 after a seven-year split, band members were worried Panozzo might be loud about homo sex. "Panozzo reassured them he was just there to play music. But a brush with death in 1998 changed his vow of silence." That's when AIDS hit (seven years after his HIV diagnosis), and he got mouthy about condoms.

The hyper-masculinity of cock rock is so hopelessly campy, I just assumed they were all gay. I mean... there are heterosexuals in Styx?