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For centuries, love stories — in the form of songs, plays, books or films — have used the concept of “forbidden love” as a narrative device to heighten the tension and drive a story forward. So, should it really come as a surprise that LGBTQ artists write some of the best love songs around?
After all, queer folks were told on a regular basis throughout history that their way of loving was wrong (let’s be honest — in many cases and places, we are still being told that). So when given a platform to express themselves openly, it’s no wonder that LGBTQ talents have penned or performed exceptionally moving, deeply affecting love songs. Look no further than Melissa Etheridge’s “Come to My Window” or George Michael’s “Fastlove” for proof.
In recent years, as queer artists have gained more mainstream visibility in the music industry, the content of queer love songs has noticeably shifted in new, bold directions. No longer relegated to writing non-specific ballads of generalized longing, queer artists starting using proper pronouns for their lyrical lovers more regularly, explicitly spelling out the dynamics of relationships and taking the opportunities afforded to straight artists for years to sing frankly about sex and desire. Some of those songs have even gone on to top the Hot 100, making history for the LGBTQ community.
With so many gay love songs to choose from, Billboard decided to offer some help. Below, we list out 30 of our favorite gay love songs — specifically in which men sing about loving men — ranging from sensual dance bangers to tender pop ballads.
Breaking up is hard to do. When a relationship comes to a painful end, however, there is one bright side — you get to enjoy breakup songs in a way you might not have before.
It’s true: Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and SZA (who is Billboard’s 2023 Woman of the Year) just hit different once you’ve actually gone through the tender-hearted scenarios they so poignantly describe in their lyrics. Maybe you, too, have had an ex hang on to your old scarf because it smells like you, even after calling you up again just to break you like a promise. Or, maybe you had to watch as your partner left you for the older blonde girl they had previously told you not to worry about, possibly right before you passed your driver’s license test.
Or god forbid, maybe you’ve even been dumped by someone you uhh … had an intimate moment with at a theater, a la “You Oughta Know” (which is absolutely, without a doubt, 1,000% on this list). Hey, Billboard doesn’t judge.
But just as not all breakups are sad, neither are all breakup songs. Just ask Lizzo, whose self-love, leave-his-behind, booty-shaking bangers will transform listeners from heartbroken to happily single and ready to mingle. Alternately, allow Beyoncé’s discography to remind you just how much you’re worth. Or better yet, take a cue from Ariana Grande and simply say to your ex, “Thank you, next.”
Whether you’re angry, relieved, wallowing in grief or gleefully moving on from your latest romantic split, allow Billboard‘s 55 favorite breakup songs to ease you through the aftermath.
When you think of love songs, artists like Frank Sinatra, Etta James, The Beatles, Al Green and Dolly Parton are probably among the first that come to mind. Sure, it is country, pop and R&B that have seen most of the biggest hits under the everlasting theme — but “love songs” encompass much more than just sentimental ballads.
EDM may have a reputation for heavy bass drops and addictive synth beats, but a growing number of dance tracks feature thoughtful and emotional lyrics, too. Several top 10s have proven EDM’s reach goes beyond the club and rave scenes. DJs like Calvin Harris have made the genre more accessible to all music lovers — with Rihanna, Ellie Goulding, Frank Ocean and Migos being among the collaborators who’ve brought vocals to his skillful arrangements.
When words and EDM’s trademark pulsing beats join forces, it’s no surprise that love is among the most popular subjects. Whether the lyrics detail finding your soulmate or realizing you still having feelings for the one that got away, there are hundreds of electronic tracks pinpointing the fuzzy feeling you get when you’re around that special someone. Billboard has narrowed them down and put together a list of our favorite EDM love songs of all time.
Let’s be honest, saying “I love you” doesn’t always come easy. Or if it does, it can be hard to show it. Thankfully, music is there to do the work for you – or at least encourage you to show the one you love just how much you care. Listen to 55 dance-ready ways to say those three little words below.
Whether or not you celebrate, whether you find it sweet or mawkish, Valentine’s Day is good for one thing — grand, sweeping declarations of love.
Every year as Feb. 14 approaches, many significant others consistently try (to varying degrees) to turn their love lives into a scene from their favorite romantic comedies. Whether they’re channeling Heath Ledger from 10 Things I Hate About You to perform Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” with a full marching band, or evoking the spirit of Say Anything’s John Cusack for a simpler, boombox-assisted rendition of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” Valentine’s Day is the day to tell your partner — and everyone else in their general vicinity — just how much you fancy them.
Naturally, the catalyst for many a romcom romantic gesture is the music that accompanies it. Some love songs are just naturally thought of in moments like this — Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” Beyoncé’s “Love on Top,” Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are” and John Legend’s “All of Me” come to mind as perfect soundtracks for Valentine’s Day romanticism.
But what about artists from the LGBTQ community? In the extensive history of romcoms, queer folks don’t usually get to have their voices represented when it comes to the saccharine storytelling genre — so why not show your support by tracklisting your Valentine’s Day with songs from a community that often finds itself left out of the proceedings?
Below, Billboard lists 20 loves songs performed by LGBTQ artist for you to jam out to this Valentine’s Day.
Songs have been written about every topic imaginable, but the best ones — from swooning ’50s ballads to contemporary club bangers — have been penned about the ups and downs of being in love. We are counting down the top 50 Hot 100 hits with a form of the word “love” in the title. The romantic tunes cover every era of the Hot 100’s history, ranging from 1958’s “To Know Him Is to Love Him” by the Teddy Bears to 2019’s “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi. Love is a many splendored and many faceted thing, and this list has all types of love songs: tunes about “The Power of Love” (Huey Lewis), “The Greatest Love of All” (Whitney Houston), eternal love (Donna Lewis’ “I Love You Always Forever”) and NSFW lovin’ (Madonna’s “Justify My Love”).
It’s sonic proof that while musical fads and fashions will change with every generation, love — and the songs inspired by it — will never go out of style. And we have the numbers to prove it: 9.6% of all Hot 100 No. 1s feature the word “love” in the song title.
The ranking is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard’s Top 50 Love Songs of All Time ranking is based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 (from its inception on Aug. 4, 1958, through Feb. 4, 2023) and comprises songs that have the word “love” in its title (or a variation, like “lover,” “loving,” “lovely,” etc.). Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods. Songs are ranked based on a formula blending performance, as outlined above, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from each era, certain time frames were weighted to account for the difference between turnover rates from those years.
Ever since Rihanna was announced as the headliner of the Super Bowl LVII halftime show over four months ago, part of the fun for longtime fans has been trying to guess which of her many, many hits her setlist will include. Typically, Super Bowl halftime performers are given between 12 and 15 minutes to play on the world’s biggest stage — so even if Rihanna opts to perform an ultra-efficient mega-mix at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on Sunday night (Feb. 12), she probably won’t be able to squeeze in anywhere close to her 14 career Hot 100 chart-toppers, let alone all of her 31 career top 10 singles.
So which hits are making the Super Bowl, and which ones are being left outside the stadium? Although Rihanna’s setlist is being kept tightly under wraps, it’s safe to assume that some of her defining smashes (“Umbrella,” “We Found Love,” “Diamonds,” “Rude Boy,” “Work,” “SOS”) will be featured alongside a combination of notable hits that work in a Super Bowl context (“Only Girl (in the World),” “Where Have You Been,” “Pon de Replay,” “Disturbia,” “Don’t Stop the Music,” “This is What You Came For”).
Toss in a ballad or two, and save some time for recent single “Lift Me Up” (which is nominated for the best original song Oscar — Rihanna would be smart to appeal to Academy voters on the largest platform possible!), and you’re looking at a robust setlist, full of hits and stuffed to the brim. But the truth is, Rihanna could create a memorable Super Bowl show using none of those aforementioned songs — that’s how many career hits she’s accrued. And while there’s a good sense of which Rihanna hits won’t be performed at the Super Bowl, a fair amount of them deserve to be hoisted back up for the world to see.
Here are 10 Rihanna songs that, in all likelihood, won’t be played during the Super Bowl halftime show… but if we’re being honest, they really should be.
Linda Ronstadt’s illustrious voice is back in the spotlight, thanks to her 1970 song “Long, Long Time” being featured in the HBO series The Last of Us.
Ronstadt first rose to prominence during the folk-rock scene of the 1960s and later became a blazing country-folk musical force throughout the 1970s, putting her stamp on the musical landscape as a formidable vocal stylist and interpreter possessing a supple voice capable of enviable musical diversity. Over the course of more than two dozen albums, Ronstadt traversed genres including rock, folk, country, jazz, Mexican folk, the Great American Songbook and opera. Several of her songs reached the upper echelon of the Billboard’s Hot 100, and in 1975, she crowned the chart with her hit “You’re No Good.” In total, she placed 34 entries on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
She also notched hits on the Billboard Latin chart (“Frenesi,” “Perfidia”) and country charts (1975’s “When Will I Be Loved,” and the Dolly Parton/Emmylou Harris collaboration “To Know Him is to Love Him”).
Ronstadt has 11 Grammy wins to her credit, in a diverse spectrum of categories including best musical album for children, best country vocal performance, best Mexican-American album, best pop vocal performance, and the all-genre record of the year category. Further demonstrating her versatility, Ronstadt also earned a Primetime Emmy Award in 1989 for outstanding individual performance in a variety of music program, for Canciones de Mi Padre (Great Performances), and was nominated for a Tony Award for best performance by a leading actress in a musical, for her role as Mabel Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance.
Ronstadt earned a lifetime achievement award from the Latin Grammys in 2014, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient in 2019.
Here, we look at 15 songs that highlight Ronstadt’s stylistic range.
Nothing goes together better than summer heat, cold drinks, good friends and country music. Throughout much of the year, country music fans gather at events across the nation (and abroad) to see their favorite country music artists perform.
Below, Billboard looks at many of the top country music festivals slated for 2023, including some of each festival’s top performers, from established artists such as Tim McGraw and Miranda Lambert to hot-shot newcomers including Bailey Zimmerman, Megan Moroney and Zach Bryan. Names including Luke Bryan, Cody Johnson and Zac Brown Band proliferate several festival lineups this year, headlining festivals including Country Thunder festivals, C2C and Windy City Smokeout.
Taken altogether, these numerous country fests offer a glimpse into the breadth of the country music moment, from Texas natives like Lambert, Johnson and Parker McCollum, to pop-leaning vocalists Dan+Shay, to ’90s country stalwarts Brooks & Dunn and Dwight Yoakam.
In addition to stellar lineups, these festivals also offer a range of activities and food offerings, including camping, line-dancing, food trucks, and merch vendors selling an array of items. See below.
As the music industry evolves, so do expectations surrounding new music. With trends and listening patterns shifting at a break-neck pace, artists are expected to usher in each new project as a brand new “era,” creating a recursive loop of authenticity, followed by slight reinvention, followed by re-established authenticity.
But when Sam Smith reintroduces themselves on Gloria, the pop superstar’s long-awaited fourth studio album, it feels different. This is not a pop star merely trying to make headlines or fulfill a promise of something “new” — Gloria sounds like it’s coming from an artist who finally feels comfortable enough to take risks with their sound in the name of honesty.
For that reason, Gloria can sound a lot like whiplash. In one moment, you’re listening to a slowed-down, smooth R&B-tinged song about a selfish ex; in the next, the sonic landscape has shifted to reggae-pop, where Smith is singing frankly about sex and desire. Bouncing around from song to song with wildly different sounds, this LP refuses to be pinned down to any specific label of genre or lyrical atmosphere.
That spirit of eclecticism is not for its own sake; in creating a sound this varied, Smith is making a point. For the last decade of their career, Smith has often been perceived as the crooner-next-door: a soulful, comforting voice conveying their own heartbreak as a means of soothing their pain — and in the process, their fans’ as well.
But alongside that image has always been a sharper, more fun Smith, crafting dance-adjacent anthems of elation and anger and sex. Gloria is Smith’s proof of concept — they contain multitudes, not just the sad broken heart of the person from In the Lonely Hour.
To celebrate Gloria’s release, Billboard takes a closer look at each of the album’s 11 original tracks and ranks them (we’re not including the album’s “Hurting” or “Dorothy” interludes here — ranking two less-than-30 second tracks against the rest feels unfair). Check out our picks below:
As a soloist and part of the superstar boy band BIGBANG, Taeyang has been a pioneer in K-pop’s international expansion. His collection of collaborations has been a critical part of his barrier-breaking longevity, as well as his ongoing artistic development for around two decades in the industry.
Even before Taeyang made his official debut on the K-pop scene with his boy band in 2006, the young star sang and rapped on records with his labelmates under YG Entertainment, which helped him find his voice as an artist. Once BIGBANG secured their place as certified chart-toppers, all the members began experimenting with solo albums. Since his first EP in 2008, Taeyang honored his love of soulful music that spotlighted vocals and showmanship akin to his idol Michael Jackson, even leading to his 2014 album Rise becoming the highest-charting solo album by a K-pop artist at the time on the Billboard 200.
Fast-forward to 2023: Taeyang is unleashing a new collaboration to return to music and reintroduce himself to the world. Teaming up with Jimin of BTS, “Vibe” marks the superstar’s long-awaited return to the music industry after he took time off to marry longtime partner Min Hyorin in 2018, handle his mandatory military in 2019, and welcome his first child in 2021. Last year marked the return of BIGBANG with their poignant and moving comeback single “Still Life” (one of the best K-pop releases of 2022, according to Billboard), and set the groundwork for Taeyang to reach for new musical goals in his career this year.
From working with his bandmates on special songs to tracks that span genres with a range of guests, revisit the best of Taeyang’s collaborations to date.