LGBT+ artists
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See also: LGBT musicians |
While popular music has always included LGBT artists, the increasing social tolerance of the late 20th and early 21st centuries allowed such artists to come out publicly. Early examples of this arose with the sexual liberation movement, with artists such as Elton John, Village People, Sylvester,[11] Tom Robinson,[11] Jill Sobule, Indigo Girls, k.d. lang, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Barry Manilow, Little Richard, Esquerita, Melissa Etheridge, Janis Ian,[11] The B-52's, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Grace Jones, Lou Reed, Marc Almond and Michael Stipe among others.
Many openly LGBT musicians have become successful, such as Elton John, who has the best-selling single in Billboard of the 1990s ("Candle in the Wind 1997"), and Will Young, whose single "Anything is Possible"/"Evergreen" was the best-selling single of the decade in the 2000s.[12] Country singer Ty Herndon came out as gay in 2014, after three number one hits on Billboard Hot Country Songs.[13]
1970s
In the 1970s, the disco, glam rock and industrial music cultures offered a multitude of platforms for expression for gender and sexual non-conforming individuals. For the queer community disco was a bridge between all people from all backgrounds through an expression of the body. "Disco Pluralism" led to the genre portraying perspectives from many experiences, thus creating a category of music representative of the intersectionality of a queer person with coexisting parts of their identity; such as race or socioeconomic status.
Despite the wide audience disco was able to pull in the 1970s it was characterized by several subsets of the genre appealing to many different aesthetics people were seeking. "Gay disco" was known to be softer and appealed more to strong emotion shown in artists like Barry White and Donna Summers' music, which contrasted with the aggressive percussion in "Straight disco. "
Disco remained practically exclusive to underground clubs for a majority of the decade until, in 1977, the movie "Saturday Night Fever" propelled disco into the mainstream. After the movie's success disco netted around 4-8 billion dollars and averaged from 20-40 percent of interactions on the billboard (1979).
Though disco's foundation lies in inclusivity after the success of "Saturday Night Fever" its commercial success led to the genre shifting from predominantly black and queer people to white Americans securing a spot for them in the genre's sphere. The influx of upper-middle class white Americans finding success in Disco led to several queer people showing animosity towards the genre, believing its capitalistic success tore disco away from what made it culturally revolutionary.
Disco still remained popular in the queer community even with increased criticism on how it derived its success. Authors like Richard Dyer of "The Gay Left" were able to publish literature in support of disco that the queer community could rally behind.
1980s
The 1980s saw increased exposure to LGBT culture, namely genderbending and cross-dressing, in the music industry with artists such as Culture Club, George Michael and Wham!, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Melissa Etheridge, Pet Shop Boys, Dead or Alive, and Erasure.
There was a large queer community that existed in electronic and dance music during the 80s. These genres of music were often played in underground queer clubs in many cities such as Los Angeles and New York.
Music videos began to allude to LGBT relationships, which included Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy", Pet Shop Boys' "Domino Dancing" and Madonna's "Vogue".
Gay icons during this decade included Cyndi Lauper, Loleatta Holloway, Gloria Gaynor, Bob Mould, and Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford.
Disco culture of the 70s and 80s is directly associated with queer musicians. Sexual and gender fluidity had become increasingly visible, leading to artists such as David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, and Prince to exist in unique ways that push the boundaries of gender and sexuality. Bowie's 1979 music video for "Boys keep swinging" offers an influential example of androgyny in music. In this video, Bowie wears traditionally masculine attire, depicting himself as exceptionally macho while portraying himself as expressionless. He continues a deadpan tone in the video by monotonously singing about advantages men experience derived from the patriarchy ("You can wear a uniform learn to drive and everything/life is a pop of the cherry when you're a boy"). The constant dull tone of the video creates a sense of irony, reinforced by the camera cutting to Bowie in drag which further confuses the viewer on Bowie's gender identity. At the end of the video on three occasions Bowie walks down a runway in drag, at the very end he wipes off bright red lipstick on his arm, representing his discomfort with female identity along with its male counterpart. The ambiguity and fluidity of these artists helped to create a safe space for queer people.
Also popular with the LGBT community was post-disco dance music such as Italo disco, house music, Hi-NRG, and freestyle. During the 1980s this music became more prevalent in the United States and LGBT artists gained prominence. DJ Larry Levan started his DJ career at the gay disco Paradise Garage.
In Argentina, new wave band Virus, led by singer Federico Moura, made references to 1980s gay men culture, such as cruising for sex, male prostitution and underground parties; and Moura displayed a flamboyant, sexualized stage persona that caused a homophobic reaction by much of the Argentine rock culture at the time. In the decade the career of several non-heterosexual women also took off, including Marilina Ross, Sandra Mihanovich and Celeste Carballo. Ross wrote the lesbian anthem "Puerto Pollensa", which was popularized by Mihanovich in 1981–1982. In 1984, Mihanovich recorded a Spanish-language version of "I Am What I Am" titled "Soy lo que soy", which also became a popular gay anthem in Argentina. Mihanovich and Carballo later joined as a pop duo and released the album Somos mucho más que dos in 1988.
1990s
Music in the 90s offers recent examples of women openly expressing their sexual desires and identity without needing to cipher their lyrics. Generally, the decade is characterized by female artists portraying themselves in a more "crude" manner than their male contemporaries such examples include: Hole, Elastica, Salt n Peppa, and Liz Phair.
Feminist artists in the 90s were able to successfully create and fulfill a significant space for themselves for the first time where they were able to write about their sexuality. In 1993, Elastica released "Stutter", a song where lead singer, Justine Frischmann expresses her frustration with her partner's sexual impotence. The lyric "Is there something you lack when I'm flat on my back? Is it just that I'm much too much for you?" is a testament to the sexual autonomy granted to women in the musical sphere.
The 90s created a space for lesser-known artists to be much more explicit regarding their sexuality, shown in the case of Liz Phair's music that ranges from sexual excitement in " Supernova's" lyrics ("You fuck me like a volcano and you're everything to me) to being overcome by lust in "Flower" ("Every time I see your face I get all wet between my legs".) Ranging all the way to complete indifference regarding sex in "Chopsticks" (He said he liked to do it backwards I said that's just fine with me that way we can fuck and watch tv.
The emergence of a pro-feminist music scene and the constant perpetuation of patriarchal values in Western society incentivized music critiquing said values, shown in Australian rock band INXS's music video for "Beautiful Girl" in 1993. The video explores pressures on women to align with Western beauty standards. They portray the women as beautiful, but in contradiction to the traditional beauty standard. The women are shown without makeup or following any fashion trend, which is juxtaposed with the lyrics reminiscing a pop song encouraging the continuation of beauty standards for women ("Nicky's in a corner/with a black coat on/runnin' from a bad home/ with a cat inside."
Celeste Carballo (left) and Sandra Mihanovich (right) in the highly controversial image used for the cover art of their album Mujer contra Mujer (1990), which is celebrated by the Argentine lesbian community.
In 1990, Argentine singers Sandra Mihanovich and Celeste Carballo (who were also a romantic couple) released their second and final studio album as a pop duo, Mujer contra Mujer. The record is celebrated as a landmark in lesbian visibility in Argentina and has become a symbol for the local LGBT community.
An increase in pro-LGBT laws and artists condemning homophobia in their music populated much of the 1990s. Groups such as Placebo, Alcazar, Right Said Fred, Mana , and more joined the ranks of allies and LGBT musicians. Bands such as Pansy Division and Tribe 8 led the queercore offshoot of hardcore punk that helped solidify LGBT arts in the decade. Robby Reverb, a member of gay punk band mOral SeX recorded rock and country music as well, including "Accept It", written by gay poet Drew Blood.
2000s and onward
The 2000s saw LGBT music branch off into its own genre, and new artists like Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Will Young, Scissor Sisters, The Gossip, RuPaul, Mika, Dario, Adam Lambert, Lauren Jauregui, Sakima, Dawnstar, Years & Years, Neon Trees, Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish and Troye Sivan supported a growing industry, spreading the message of equality and positivity.
Country singer Chely Wright faced death threats and declining record sales after coming out in 2010.[14] She made Wish Me Away, a documentary about her experience and it won several major awards in 2012 including trophies from the Los Angeles Film Festival, the Seattle LGBT Festival and the Tallgrass Film Festival.[15] In 2012, Against Me! singer and guitarist came out as a trans woman and changed her name to Laura Jane Grace.[15] Openly gay artists such as Tegan and Sara gained popularity; the duo produced a pro-tolerance advert jingle for Oreo in 2014.[16]
In recent years, the political landscape in many countries has changed in respect to queer identities. A driving factor of this shift is queer artists who use their music and platforms to continue to advocate for queer rights. Many successful artists have achieved great success by disrupting gender and sexual norms.[17] Artists such as Prince, David Bowie, Cher, and Madonna have incorporated gender-bending into their music and performances to blur the lines between male and female, gay and straight.
LGBT music is becoming more widespread as more queer artists are releasing music detailing the queer experience. Queer artists are sharing their personal stories about being queer through their music which is helping to create a space in the music industry for queer listeners to identify with.[18]
Social media platforms like YouTube, Tumblr, and Instagram have created new ways for queer artists to share their music. These site allow artist to upload the music on their own without the need of a music label that can sometimes prevent artists from releasing music that details their queer experience.[18] In 2013, a year before releasing his debut EP TRXYE, Troye Sivan released a coming out video on his YouTube channel.[19] This video allowed Sivan to share his identity without risking his budding music career. Since then, Sivan had achieved great success and has established himself as a prominent artist in queer music. For many decades, queer artists have been told that if they come out, their careers will be over. The self-publishing features of social media have allowed queer artists to share their music while also being open about their identities without having to risk their careers.[18]
Some popular LGBT artists and bands today are Westlife,[20] Girl in Red, Dodie, Cavetown, Otep,[21] Kehlani,[22] Hayley Kiyoko, FLETCHER, Panic! At The Disco,[23] King Princess, Pabllo Vittar, Mary Lambert, Halsey,[24] MUNA,[25] Kevin Abstract (Brockhampton), Sam Smith, Le1f, Azealia Banks, Baby Tap, Lauren Jauregui, Sia, Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X, Holland, Electrosexual, Perfume Genius, Courtney Barnett, Troye Sivan, Clairo, Calum Scott, Greyson Chance, Kim Petras, Angel Haze, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Against Me!, SOPHIE, Rostam, Tom Goss, Shura, Superfruit, Years and Years, Gravity Noir, PVRIS, Jess Young, Seeva, Ddendyl Hoyt, Frank Ocean, ILoveMakonnen, Janelle Monáe, Jojo Siwa, Billy Gilman,[26] Syd, Ladyhawke, Melanie Martinez, Ben Platt, and Mykki Blanco,[27][28][29] Orville Peck. Prominent electronic music artist and synthesist for the band LCD Soundsystem, Rayna Russom came out publicly as a transgender woman in July 2017.[30]
