David Letterman is busy promoting his new show, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction and we have to admit, we're pretty buzzed about it. With some big names joining the host, it's set to give us an insight into the trials and tribulations of our favorite A-listers. In a clip recently released, rapper and hip hop sensation Jay-Z opens up about the moment his mother came out to him.

PREVIOUSLY: PEOPLE TELL ALL ABOUT COMING OUT

The 48-year-old star opened up to the talk show host, telling him that the track "Smile" on his album 4:44 was made the day after his mother, Gloria Carter, came out to him. "Imagine having to live your life as someone else, and you think you're protecting your kids," explained Jay-Z. "For my mother to live as someone that she wasn't and hide and protect her kids and didn't want to embarrass her kids. For all this time, for her to sit in front of me and tell me, 'I think I love someone.' I mean, I really cried. That was a real story. I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free." The father of 3 went on to add that he had always realized his mother was gay, but it was not a topic that was ever discussed between them.

Jay-Z isn't the only one talking about his mom's sexuality, with Gloria herself mentioning the revelation in a D'USSE interview. "Besides your mother, this is the person that I am, you know? This is the life that I lived," Carter explained telling her son. "He was tearing because he was like, 'That had to be a horrible life, ma.' I was like, my life was never horrible, it was just different."

Jay-Z remains close to his mother after she raised him and three siblings single handedly after their father abandoned them. It was Gloria who nurtured her son's interest in music. When he repeatedly woke his siblings in the night by tapping out drum patterns, she spent what little money they had on a boom box for him, causing Jay to start dabbling with freestyling and song writing - and a star was born. The proud mama continued to support her son on his rise to fame and beyond, and can often be seen by his side at awards shows.

NEXT: CELEBRITIES WHO ARE MORE THAN PROUD TO BE GAY