Caleb Shomo, the frontman of the multi-platinum rock band Beartooth, has publicly come out as a gay man, ending his nearly 14-year marriage to actress Fleur Shomo. The rock star, who first gained fame as a teenage member of the electronic-metalcore band Attack Attack!, revealed his sexuality in a heartfelt Instagram post on Saturday, addressing years of speculation about his personal life.
Early Life and Rise to Fame
Born in December 1992 in Ohio, Shomo grew up in a religious household where his father served as a church pastor and his mother worked as a nurse. His grandfather was a well-known gospel singer, and Shomo attended church every Sunday. In a previous interview with Revolver, he said, 'I was involved in a lot of that stuff growing up. I saw a lot of damage it did to people in my life, certain situations and even my family.' He added, 'I'm not trying to say that religion itself was the issue. I will always have a respect and understanding of it because of the big part it played in my life, but that's not what my world revolves around anymore.'
Shomo began playing music at age four, starting with piano lessons before switching to guitar, bass, and drums at age ten. He struggled with depression and anxiety from a young age and was misdiagnosed with ADHD. He described himself as 'very quiet, very to myself, very shy and reserved' during his school years, which ended after his freshman year of high school when he dropped out at 15 to focus on music.
Attack Attack! and Mental Health Struggles
In 2006, Shomo joined Attack Attack! as a keyboard player after being asked by friends. The band signed to Rise Records in 2008 and released their debut album Someday Came Suddenly, which peaked at No. 193 on the Billboard 200. After the departure of vocalist Nick Barham in late 2009, Shomo became the primary vocalist. The band's self-titled second album peaked at No. 27, and their third album This Means War (2012) became their highest-charting release, debuting at No. 11.
Despite the band's success, Shomo left later that year, citing severe mental health issues. In a statement to fans, he revealed, 'I have horrible clinical depression and have for years. I have been suicidal since middle school. I've struggled on and off with eating disorders, self-image problems since I was announced as the frontman a few years ago, and various substance abuse and addictions for about the past year.' He described 2012 as 'easily the darkest year of my life overall.'
Beartooth and Therapeutic Songwriting
After leaving Attack Attack!, Shomo formed Beartooth as a personal studio project and mental health outlet. The band signed to Red Bull Records in 2013 and released their debut EP Sick for free. Lyrically, the first four Beartooth albums dealt heavily with depression. Shomo explained, 'That was the whole point of Beartooth, to be this personal musical therapy session. If people get it, they get it, if they don't, whatever.' The band's commercial success peaked with their fifth album The Surface (2023), which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums chart. Beartooth is set to release their next album, Pure Ecstasy, in August 2026.
Coming Out and Personal Life
Shomo married actress Fleur Shomo in 2012, and they were together for nearly 14 years. In his coming-out post, he wrote, 'I am a proudly gay man.' He reflected on his past albums as 'very self-deprecating' and noted that his music explored 'his religious upbringing, depression, self-hatred, self-loathing, and hopelessness.' He admitted, 'I spent a decade burying feelings with alcohol, and honestly when I decided to put it down and focus on exploring why I felt this way for so long, it's been a direct path to me reconciling with my sexuality in hopes that it will eventually lead to me experiencing self-love.'
Fleur Shomo responded with a statement expressing support while acknowledging the pain of their split. She wrote, 'The past few months have been a very disorientating and hurtful time to navigate. For both of us.' She added, 'I will always want to love, protect and support Caleb. I have cared more about his well-being over the years than anything else in the world.' She also noted the difficulty of balancing support for him with her own grief, saying, 'You can love and support your person through the hardest time in their life, whilst also be completely demolished and lose yourself at the same time.'
Shomo encouraged others to 'be honest' and 'do the hard work instead of burying it down as deep as you physically can thinking it will change like I did.' He concluded, 'Holding these things in only hurt you and those around you. Love you all, and hopefully this is a step in the right direction to loving myself one day.'
