Frank Ocean is a conundrum in the music industry. He's like a mainstream artist—that's also indie. He's hit-maker that doesn't need to be surfing radio waves for people to know his music. Ocean (whose real name is Christopher Edwin Breaux) began his career after he snagged a songwriting deal and began writing hits for artists including Justin Bieber, Beyoncé, John Legend, and Brandy. From there, Ocean released his debut mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra in 2011, featuring his debut hit solo-single "Novacane", continuing on to release Channel Orange in 2012 gifting listeners with platinum single "Thinkin Bout You" which nominated for a Grammy Award in 2013 for Record of the Year.
It's no secret that Ocean is one of the most talented artists in the music industry but what remains a secret—to this day— is his personal life. Fans of Ocean know that he is extremely private when it comes to his life beyond the limelight and have gathered tidbits of what he experiences from his introspective musical style. But who is Frank Ocean beyond the endless waves of allegory and metaphor that wash over his lyrics? What's he been up to lately and, what happened at Coachella 2023? Here's everything we know about Frank Ocean's personal life, his net worth and why the low-key Louisiana native is making headlines.
5 Remembering Frank Ocean's Tumblr Letter
It's been over a decade since Frank Ocean shared his now-infamous a letter on Tumblr. It was a moment that defined the singer's career wherein he shared an anecdote about his experience falling in love for the first time. What made fans shocked was that, in the letter, Ocean confessed that his first love was a man.
Ocean shared the post amidst the release of his debut album Channel Orange. Soon after, a drama-filled fiasco seemed to erupt as Target refused to sell the album, which many— including Ocean's then-manager Christian Clancy— assumed was for reasons pertaining to his sexuality. Clancy, who tweeted his feelings about Target's alleged homophobic decision, later retracted his statement, citing that the reason Target didn't carry the album was because it was released digitally first, and that his initial response was an "emotional knee jerk reaction."
The letter was a ground-breaking moment in Hip hop as same-sex attraction/relationships had not previously been met with open arms in the genre. In an interview with GQ, Ocean shared that he "cried like a f******g baby," when he released the letter, stating that there's "magic in truth and honesty and openness."
4 What Has Frank Ocean Actually Said About His Sexuality?
Frank Ocean's Tumblr letter, describing his relationship with a man, caused many people to believe that the singer was coming out as homosexual. However, as the letter also references his relationships with women, many took to assume that the singer was bisexual, instead. Speculation on Ocean's sexuality sparked even more than as listeners of his Channel Orange album realized many of the love songs were latent with the pronoun "he".
In a 2012 interview with GQ, Ocean kept the definitive nature of his sexuality even more ambiguous, dodging a question asking if he considered himself bisexual. In his lengthy response, the singer said he wasn't trying to sell sex to his listeners and, on the letter said, "I didn't need to label it for it to have impact. Because people realize everything that I say is so relatable, because when you're talking about romantic love, both sides in all scenarios feel the same s**t." Ocean further rejected labeling himself in regard to is sexuality, stating, "You can't feel a box. You can't feel a label. Don't get caught up in that s**t."
He closed his statement, "There's so much something in life. Don't get caught up in the nothing. That s**t is nothing, you know? It's nothing. Vanish the fear."
3 Frank Ocean Was In A Three-Year Relationship With Memo Guzman
Fans were shocked in 2019 when Frank Ocean, who is usually private about his personal life, revealed he wasn't single in an interview with the publication Gayletter.
"I don’t use dating apps. I’ve been in a relationship for three years. I definitely wasn’t using dating apps before then. I don’t think I would use dating apps now. I f**k with Marc Jacobs’ philosophy on that, so I wouldn’t rule it out, but it is a little hectic being a famous person on dating apps," Ocean said.
Fans suspected that he was in a relationship with close friend Memo Guzman after, in August 2017, the two were publicly spotted, attending the boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and UFC star Conor McGregor. The following day, Ocean released his song "Provider" which listeners realized opened with the lyrics: “Memo finna start acting out if I don’t see him soon.”. Fans then did some digging and learned that the two had been spotted together as far back as 2016.
Guzman also raised eyebrows when, on his Instagram, he posted photo on Instagram of Ocean performing in Gothenburg, Sweden in August 2017. He edited the caption over a year later to read “baby.”.
Fans believe that the former alleged couple had called it quits around 2019, after Ocean posted a Tumblr post responding to backlash he received from the LGBT community over his PrEP+ series of club parties in New York City.
“My ex who I was with for several years didn’t know about [PrEP] when we first met at a gay club in LA,” he wrote. "Awareness isn’t always what we’d hope it would be.".
2 Frank Ocean Rumored To Be Dating Omar Apollo Since 2019
Following the alleged breakup between Frank Ocean and Memo Guzman, fans are convinced that the singer is now in a relationship with musician Omar Apollo. Rumors of their suspected romance began when an April 2022 episode of the Like a Virgin podcast dropped. Co-host Fran Tirado shared a story that shed light on their relationship.
“I was driving home [with] two friends of friends that are from Mexico, and they work in the music industry. One of them was friends with Omar Apollo, so we were talking about this new album [Ivory]. And I was saying, ‘It feels really Frank Ocean-y to me,’” she said. “And the guy looks at me, and he goes, ‘You know they used to date, right?’ They dated for three years, and they broke up, and this album, Ivory, is all about Frank.”
Apollo's album Ivory dropped in April 2022, causing fans to believe they must’ve started dating in 2019.
In August 2022, one fan,@oliviaaspina, posted a video on TikTok pointing out that Ocean and the 25-year-old Apollo were vacationing together in Italy. After someone shared a video of Ocean on a boat, and fan pointed out that Apollo posted the same boat on his story. She even went on to show that Apollo can be faintly spotted in the background of the video captured of Ocean. Apollo had previously shared that he identifies as queer with Rolling Stone.
“I’m very open about it in my music and on Twitter,” he said. “But when it comes to identifying myself… It feels good to say queer. I don’t know. I’m complex.”
Ocean also been spotted at one of Apollo's shows, causing fans to believe that they are definitely dating.
1 Frank Ocean's Net Worth And What Happened At His 2023 Coachella Performance
Frank Ocean's net worth was estimated to be about $16 million. But recently, Ocean has made headlines because of his 2023 Coachella Performance which The Guardian described as "rollercoaster ending in disappointment,". The performance has been critiqued harshly, after Ocean appeared an hour late and delivered a lackluster performance of some of his previous hits. After his first performance it was revealed, by sources close to Ocean per Variety, that he would be pulling out of Coachella altogether, which will cost the festival millions of dollars, and could potentially affect his net worth negatively.
According to reports, Frank Ocean gave up $4 million by dropping out of his second Coachella performance.
"Frank Ocean will not be performing at weekend 2 of Coachella," Variety reported. "After suffering an injury to his leg on festival grounds in the week leading up to weekend 1."
"Frank Ocean was unable to perform the intended show but was still intent on performing, and in 72 hours, the show was reworked out of necessity. On doctor's advice, [Ocean] is not able to perform weekend 2 due to two fractures and a sprain in his left leg."
On his Coachella performance, Ocean said, "It was chaotic. There is some beauty in chaos. It isn't what I intended to show, but I did enjoy being out there and I'll see you soon."
Frank Ocean was replaced by Blink-182 and the DJ trio Skrillex, Four Tet and Fred Again for the second weekend.
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