It’s been one hell of a week for Frank Ocean. Last week, the singer revealed to the world that his first love was a man, and after his sexual revelation, Ocean was met with a sea of both criticism and praise from fans and music’s luminaries alike. And though Ocean’s decision to come out was a risk that could’ve brought about career suicide, the singer seems to be rising to the top — literally.
Ocean recently made his TV debut on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” giving a stellar and moving performance of his poignant and timely song, “Bad Religion.”
Backed by The Roots and a full string section, Ocean took to the stage to sing his emotional ballad about falling in love with a man that could never love him back, something he wrote candidly about in his famous open letter about his sexuality.
“If it brings me to my knees, it’s a bad religion / Oooh this unrequited love / To me it’s nothing but a one man cult / And cyanide in my Styrofoam cup / I could never make him love me, never make him love me,” Ocean sang passionately to a cheering crowd.
Besides making his TV debut, Ocean also released his highly-anticipated debut album, Channel Orange, around midnight, on July 10, a week ahead of the album’s original July 17 release date.
Just hours after Ocean’s performance on “Jimmy Fallon,” iTunes revealed that Channel Orange had soared to the top of its U.S. album charts.
“Wasn’t @frank_ocean amazing on Jimmy Fallon? No wonder Channel Orange is No. 1 in the US. https://tw.itunes.com/KE3 pic.twitter.com/lNMfMcyL,” read a tweet iTunes official Twitter page.
All we can say is congratulations to Ocean on his newfound success. And though we’ll have to wait to see how Channel Orange fares on the Billboard charts, it’s good to see that despite the homophobia that has historically — and still does — plague black artists, Ocean is seemingly carving out his own solid niche in the world of music and is proving that “out” artists can top the charts and sell records too.
Below you can check out some other artists who defied the odds and found chart success as well. –nicholas robinson
