Gay pop icons

Defining “pop music” is hard enough, let alone “gay pop” — but what we know for sure is that gay pop musicians have existed and have been defining culture for many, many years. Over the past decades, many talented singers, songwriters, composers, and conductors from the LGBTQA+ community have emerged. Not only is their music profound and soulful, but also it is reflective of the evolution of the community’s rights.

Read on to learn about the greatest LGBTQ icons in music!. This is a list of people and characters described or narrativized as gay icons by contemporary or historical media. Sappho of Lesbos was an Archaic Greek poet known for composing sentimental lyrics about women. Pop culture has played a significant role in bringing LGBTQ+ representation into the mainstream, offering characters that resonate with audiences across the globe.

In this post, we're spotlighting the most iconic pop culture LGBTQ+ characters, celebrating their impact and the strides they’ve helped make for inclusivity and diversity. Pioneering Icons That Helped LGBTQ Fans Find Their Voice. Whether through their direct messages or a knack for creating effervescent, life-affirming pop, these musicians have all helped change the. Brothers Osborne singer TJ Osborne made history when he publicly came out in early , thereby becoming the first openly gay artist in music history signed to a major country label.

Originally written about George W. Bush, the song took on a bigger meaning after Prop 8 — an anti-gay marriage state constitutional amendment — was passed in California. The ban was lifted in The music video , which features slightly dated CGI, was Grammy-nominated for best short form music video. While RuPaul reigns as the queen of drag in the English-speaking world, Pabllo Vittar is the drag queen of Latin America, especially in her home country of Brazil.

In , Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers decided to go all in on on their supergroup Boygenius for a full year, and not a second after. Away from the online discourse, the borderline overexposure and their Troye Sivan cosplay on SNL , this song remains as strong as ever.

This song is queer from its chorus to its liner notes, with Sarah Tudzin and Jay Som on production. With a macabre music video taking loose cues from a certain s-era televangelist couple, Kesha preaches the value of charting your own path to salvation — all while shaking what the good Lord gave you and hopefully getting into some good trouble along the way.

gay icon' award winner 2008

Orville Peck may have burst onto the country music scene as a masked Wild West desperado at the tail end of the s, but the deep-voiced crooner never kept the unabashedly queer themes coursing through his particular brand of outlaw country a mystery. Though straight, Clarkson accepted the rumors as a compliment. The singer-songwriter revealed she wrote this catchy ode to courage as a love letter to a friend who was struggling to come out as an adult.

Though RCA decided not to release this song stateside, Bowie performed it on Saturday Night Live wearing a puppet body suit via special effects. Comparing a cold, avoidant relationship to the repressed dynamic of Carol et al. This song plays during the famous scene in The Birdcage where Gene Hackman dons drag to avoid being noticed by the paparazzi. While the four members of Sister Sledge are actual sisters, the song took on a deeper meaning with the gay community being one big family.

The euphoric gay staple — which reached No. On her first Dance Club Songs No. Years after the Off-Broadway production premiered, the show was finally brought to Broadway. Minogue recorded this jovial anthem specifically as an homage to her large gay fan base. The video depicts a peaceful flash mob taking over the streets of downtown Los Angeles, symbolizing — quite literally — an uprising of love.

The fun video is full of colors, dancing and — of course — drag queens. While there are several underground queer hip-hop artists that deserve recognition Le1f , Cakes Da Killa , Mykki Blanco , to name a few , Katz and his Paris Is Burning tribute is a standout. The song further became a staple in gay Latinx clubs when Mexican icon Thalia covered it in Her version went to No.

But then again, Peaches is not most artists. Leave it to singer Shea Diamond to deliver one of the most stirring anthems to trans solidarity in music history. Janet Jackson channeled one of the most dark and difficult moments in her personal life into a liberating and cathartic LP. The song, which peaked at No. Aguilera won a Grammy for her performance of the song.

Perry received a song of the year nod for writing it. The song is earnest yet jaded, familiar yet fresh — kind of like, well, an American teenager.