Singer Eli Lieb's cover of Miley Cyrus'
Wrecking Ball has racked up more than half-a-million views on
YouTube in two days.
“I think Wrecking Ball by
Miley Cyrus is one of the more beautiful songs to come out in quite a
while,” Lieb wrote in the video's description. “It has so much
emotion in it that I wanted to try a really stripped down version.”
(The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
In an interview with gay male
entertainment blog TheBacklot.com,
Lieb, whose previous video Young Love featured himself
opposite another equally handsome young man, said that he's unwilling
to work as a closeted artist.
“I feel really happy with being able
to help people in the gay community who might be struggling with
stuff, and I know that being as open as I am, it would help people
who might be struggling,” Lieb said. “That definitely had an
influence on me when I was younger. I have no interest in playing
into the idea that you have to hide your sexuality for your career.
If there's anyone around me who says that, I'm not going to work with
them. The way to make real change is not to play into that fear.
I'm happy to represent the gay community in that way.”
(Related: Eli
Lieb: Young
Love
and Steve Grand's All
American Boy
are different stories.)