Teen pop star reveals he was victim of male rape
The lead singer of 1970s supergroup the Bay City Rollers has spoken for the first time about his years of torment after being raped by another man.
Les McKeown spoke out as part of a Living TV documentary.
The pop star claims he was attacked when he was just 19 and spent the next 30 years seeking out risky sex with other men behind his wife’s back.
“Date rape is the best way I can think of to explain how I was cajoled into a situation through drugs into having sex with another man,” he said.
“It happened in America in a hotel room. I was given Quaaludes, a drug for lowering your inhibitions and making you horny.
“Afterwards I felt really used and abused. I never told anybody about it, not even the other guys in the band, because I was ashamed.
“Maybe part of the shame was that I actually enjoyed it. Before that, I always thought I was straight, but what was happening to me was very erotic and I felt pleasure from it.
“Now I think a lot of the shame I’ve felt ever since has to do with the person who did that to me.
“I hated him. I tried to drink it away and push that memory into obscurity.”
Now 53, Mr McKeown claims rehab has “cured” him.
“Since I’ve been home I’ve not had the inclination to phone anybody and say, ‘Do you fancy a sexual encounter in the woods?’
“Maybe now it’s not a secret it’s not so naughty any more.”
The Bay City Rollers were an international phenomenon in the 1970s, on a scale not seen since The Beatles.
The Scottish boyband had five members and their distinctive tartan motif became highly popular.
Over a period of five years they consistently reached number one not only in Britain but all over Europe, North America, Japan and Australia.
Mr McKeown claims worldwide album sales are 300 million. More conservative estimates put the number close to 100 million.
As the lead singer, Mr McKeown was a teen pin-up. He still tours with Les McKeown’s Legendary Bay City Rollers – he is the only original Roller in the band.
