My chat with the talented Eli Lieb

I met Eli Lieb a few weeks ago at the LA LGBT Center’s Vanguard Awards when PR guru Howard Bragman brought him through the press line.

I had not heard of Eli but did chat with him a bit then later became familiar with his music on YouTube.

Boy, is he talented!

Eli’s cover of Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball went viral last year on YouTube.

The openly gay artist wants his songs to be relateable to both straight and gay audiences.

‘When you listen, it’s equal,’ he said. ‘When you see my videos, it’s still equal and I try to make that the point – it’s just love as opposed to a gay relationship.’

While the songs can apply to straight or same-sex love, the videos leave no doubt that Eli is into men.

‘I just write songs, I write pop songs. But when I make a video, you know (I’m gay) because if I’m writing a love song, I need to have another guy in the video – I’m not going to have a girl.’

The 35-year-old Eli has been performing for years and in 2009 he began recording covers of popular songs and posting them on YouTube.

He was still living in Fairfield, Iowa, and began to attract a following.

Eli moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2013 and has since collaborated with such out artists as Adam Lambert, Cheyenne Jackson and Crystal Bowersox.

A year ago, his Wrecking Ball cover put him on the map and it has since had more than 3.5 million views. His single Young Love is not far behind with 2.7 million views and last week he released the video for his latest single Lightning In A Bottle.

He’s happy to be making a name for himself as his authentic self.

‘I’ve been openly gay my whole career,’ he says, ‘and I don’t think there’s any other way to be.’