Sarah Grynberg was joined by Darren Hayes, singer, songwriter, and former front man of Savage Garden on her podcast A Life of Greatness.

Darren’s voice and music found success worldwide. Behind the scenes he struggled with identity, mental health, and the pressures of success.

Darren:  “The thing that made me a target was what was extraordinary about me. If I had a child and they were being bullied the way that I was, I would say to them, you’re being bullied because you’re extraordinary. You’re so rare, you’re so different, you’re so unique. Sticking out is the thing that makes you extraordinary and rare and like the most precious gem.”

Darren spoke with Sarah about his path to self-acceptance and his newly released memoir, Unlovable, a raw and intimate look at his life beyond the music.

When Sarah asked whether he still has a relationship with Savage Garden bandmate Daniel Jones:

“Our falling out was entirely due to the fact that he told the world that the band break up was the first he’d ever heard of it, which was not true. And then he never corrected that.

He eventually did, maybe a decade later, but it was a decade too late. It was a huge personal betrayal for me. There are lots of reasons why in the very beginning he didn’t, which I gave him a pass for at the time. But, 3 or 4 years later, when I was still being blamed for the band breaking up I realised that I didn’t want to have to keep pretending to be close to somebody who had not been very kind to me.”

The full episode is below.