R.E.M. Singer Michael Stipe Never "Got It On" With Kurt Cobain

More than a decade later, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe is setting the record straight about his purely platonic relationship with Nirvana's Kurt Cobain.

The pair had become close in the 90s which led many to believe that the openly gay (Stipe prefers the term queer) R.E.M. frontman's relationship with Kurt was more than an innocent friendship. Contest: Describe Amazing Sex In 10 Words Or Less To Win NYC Trip The two were such good friends that Michael was named the godfather of Frances Cobain, the daughter of Kurt and Courtney Love.

Michael recently said in the New York Post's Page Six (via contactmusic.com), "Let's set the record straight... Kurt was a really sweet man, and we never had sex. All right? There's your exclusive."

Back in 1994, Michael even tried to prevent Kurt from committing suicide by offering to record a duet with him, to no avail.

Now, despite his less than enthusiastic feelings on being a celebrity, the musician decided to satisfy the media's curiousity while celebrating the launch of his friend Jane Pratt's new web site, xojane.com, at the Jane Hotel.

But why has Michael taken so long to deny the rumors? We're not sure, but perhaps he kept his non-secret with him all these years to prove a point.

“I had to grapple with a lot of contradictions back in the 80s," he recently told The Guardian (via ShowbizSpy.com). “I’m exaggerating to make a point but it was certainly an audience (that listened to R.E.M.) that, in the main, did not share my political leanings or affiliations, and did not like how flamboyant I was as a performer or indeed a sexual creature. They probably held lots of my world views in great disregard, and I had to look out on that and think, well, what do I do with this?”