1920s-1930s Blues music made its appearance in the United States towards the late 19th century, but made an impact on queer culture in the 1920s and 1930s. Following the Civil War period, blues music relied heavily on Black vocals. Specifically, Black women who were originally introduced to the entertainment scene due to the influx of economic opportunities. Blues were a way of expression for freed African Americans, "''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' is, simultaneously, a story about how white people 'tore the railroad down'
and how Black people still managed to 'build a railroad of their own' within its interests". Becoming entertainers also brought black women bodily and sexual control over themselves and gave them opportunities to express their desires for same-sex relationships. Due to the time period, blues musicians such as Ma Rainey, Gladys Bentley, and Bessie Smith had to keep these relationships hidden but because of the constant nature of moving the involvement they had with same-sex relationships was a lot easier to contain. Despite many of these musicians being married to men, they still sought relationships with other women. Ma Rainey was met with controversies regarding her masculine voice. Her southern audience found her vocals to be appealing and nostalgic towards their southern history, but her voice was not enjoyed by her northern audience. Their physical appearance challenged the ideal expression of femininity and actively challenged patriarchal concepts put in place. Their lyrics were a direct connection to their physical display. Famously, Ma Rainey's “Prove It On Me Blues” openly addresses her sexual fluidity and desire towards same-sex relationships. African Americans, gays, and Latinos who were longing for something other than the rock music met in these clubs, in cities like New York, Philadelphia, and Miami. In these clubs, "disco became the pulse of gay liberation on and off the dance floor in the post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS 1970s". The
disco,
glam rock, and
industrial music cultures offered a multitude of platforms for expression for gender and sexual non-conforming individuals throughout the 1970s. For the queer community, disco was a bridge between all people from all backgrounds through an expression of the body. Disco was not only musical, but cultural as well, and allowed people to form communities. "Disco Pluralism" partly led to the inclusion of different perspectives in the genre, thus creating a category of music representative of the
intersectional identities of queer listeners; such as race or socioeconomic status. 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 to 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. In scholarship about disco and related genres, most scholarship focuses on white, gay men who were involved in disco, sometimes briefly mentioning "Disco Divas", or the Black women who were involved disco music. Even though disco was instrumental in forming different ways of viewing marginalized identities, specifically femininity, Blackness, and homosexuality, most scholarship focuses on the least marginalized of these groups when conducting research. The glam rock scene included numerous bisexual musicians, including
Queen's Freddie Mercury, Tim Bowers of
The New York Times recalls that "glam's vocals had a fruity theatricality, supporting lyrics that presented as a boast: "Your mother can't tell if you're a boy or a girl." Glam was butch and femme at once: bisexuality in sound."
Jobriath, rock's first openly gay star, was also part of the glam rock scene.
The Rocky Horror Show, a 1973 play that was later adapted into the film
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, was a keystone of LGBTQ media in the 1970s and was soundtracked primarily by glam rock. The play was noted to help popularize the genre. A song from the show, "
Sweet Transvestite", was noted as "the first big, glam rock aria of the musical" in the book
Trans Representations in Contemporary, Popular Cinema. The same book mentions that glam rock "was a
queering (or
camping) of the genre of rock music" The musical
Hedwig and the Angry Inch from 2001 also used glam rock to tell the story of a
gender-affirming surgery gone awry.
1980s The 1980s saw increased exposure to LGBTQ culture in bands, namely
gender bending and
cross-dressing, in the music industry with artists such as
Culture Club,
The B-52s,
Soft Cell,
Visage,
Frankie Goes to Hollywood,
Pet Shop Boys,
Dead or Alive,
Erasure, and drag queen
Divine. 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 and
New Romantic subcultural movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which spawned the
Blitz Kids in London. Music videos began to allude to LGBTQ relationships, which included
Bronski Beat's "
Smalltown Boy",
Elton John' "
Elton's Song",
Frankie Goes to Hollywood "
Relax" and Madonna's "
Vogue". Lesbian musician
Melissa Etheridge used the success of her song "
Come to My Window", popular among lesbian crowds, to campaign for
same-sex unions and LGBTQ parental rights. 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 LGBTQ community. An increase in
pro-LGBTQ laws and artists condemning homophobia in their music populated much of the 1990s. Groups such as
Placebo,
Alcazar,
Right Said Fred,
Maná, and more joined the ranks of allies and LGBTQ musicians. Bands such as
Pansy Division and
Tribe 8 led the
queercore offshoot of
hardcore punk that helped solidify LGBTQ 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 The 2000s saw LGBTQ 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,
Neon Trees, and
Miley Cyrus supported a growing industry, spreading the message of equality and positivity. Hip Hop became an increasingly queer influenced industry. Though many performers were still adjusting to the appeal of mainstream markets, queer hip hop artists were still prevalent. They became more of a singular exception to the industry. Hurricane Katrina took life and excitement out of many parts in the south, but the return and rise of sissy rappers, open and out queer bounce rappers specifically in New Orleans, brought back excitement and joy through live performances of queer hip hop. 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. In 2012, a singer and guitarist from the group
Against Me! came out as a
trans woman and changed her name to
Laura Jane Grace. Social media platforms like
YouTube,
Tumblr, and
Instagram established new ways for queer artists to share their music. These sites allow artists to upload the music on their own without the need of a music label. Music labels can sometimes prevent artists from releasing music that details their queer experience. 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. As of today, some of the top artists are openly queer country musicians. For example,
Lil Nas X became a sensation when he released his country rap "
Old Town Road" that went viral on the short-form video app
TikTok. Since becoming famous, Lil Nas X has used his platform to elevate gay representation, and has carved out space for himself in the music industry as an unapologetic messiah for today's young, queer generation. This increase in representation in the country music industry has brought other names to the scene. Country music now has
Trixie Mattel, American
drag queen and musician, as well as
Orville Peck, South African country musician as breakthrough artists in this music genre that may not have previously accepted them. Alongside these openly queer country musicians, there has also been a larger number of country artists supporting the LGBTQ community. Artists like
Garth Brooks,
Carrie Underwood,
Tim McGraw,
Kacey Musgraves, and
Maren Morris have come forward as allies for this community. 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. Artists such as
Prince,
David Bowie, LGBTQ music has become more widespread, with more queer artists releasing music detailing queer experience. Queer artists share their personal experiences through their music, which has helped to create spaces in the music industry for LGBTQ listeners to feel heard – and with which to identify themselves. == LGBTQ artists ==