Pride
Page: 29
After making waves in 2022 with a cameo-filled album and award-winning staging, DRAG: The Musical is ready to run full steam ahead — wearing a pair of stilettos, mind you — into 2024. On Wednesday (Dec. 13), it was revealed that the show — which was co-written by RuPaul’s Drag Race alumna Alaska — would […]
12/12/2023
Running the gamut of genres, themes and release strategies, LGBTQ+ artists couldn’t be pinned down throughout this chaotic year.
12/12/2023
In a September interview with The New York Times, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner was asked why The Masters: Conversations With Dylan, Lennon, Jagger, Townshend, Garcia, Bono, and Springsteen, his book interviewing rock icons, didn’t include the perspectives of women or people of color. The media mogul responded bluntly: “None of them were as articulate enough on this intellectual level.” Condemnation came swiftly, even from the publication that Wenner had founded. Critics pointed to his comments as yet another example of the strident gatekeeping that has held rock music back, making it harder for anyone but straight white men to succeed.
Yet one of the biggest rock albums of 2023 has served as an antithesis to Wenner’s claim, as the indie-rock supergroup boygenius dominated the space this year. Formed by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, the trio’s cult-favorite 2018 self-titled EP made an impact on the artists’ respective fans, leading to bigger gains for their subsequent solo albums and building even more anticipation for their long-awaited reunion this year.
Aptly titled The Record, the band’s first full-length debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and scored top spots on the Top Rock Albums and Adult Alternative Airplay charts. A sold-out arena tour, prominent Coachella slot, Saturday Night Live performance and six Grammy nominations followed. As Bridgers told Billboard earlier this year, “Sh-t keeps happening to us where you are then confronted with each other or other people being like, ‘How sick is that?!’ ”
The band’s big year stands in stark contrast to its introduction: While its debut EP earned rave reviews and a fervent fandom, the project never broke onto the Billboard 200 and peaked at No. 24 on the Top Alternative Albums chart. Yet for Jeff Regan, senior director of music programming at SiriusXM and host of Alt Nation’s Advanced Placement, The Record was always destined to dominate the rock scene. “When you hear that this amazing [group] is getting ready to present new music, your ears perk up immediately,” he says. “With boygenius, you have three authentic artists who are bringing not just three fan bases together, but three distinct styles and bodies of work together.”
Regan is quick to point out that the band’s achievements in 2023 cannot simply be qualified as three previously successful artists uniting their fans. While Bridgers’ profile has exponentially grown since the group formed in 2018 — her 2020 album, Punisher, helped her earn a best new artist Grammy nomination and even secured her an opening slot on Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour — Regan says it’s the quality of boygenius’ output, and its fans’ appreciation for it, that made The Record such a standout hit. “A lot of the boygenius fans understand that we had to carve out the time for this,” Dacus told Billboard earlier this year. “People know this is a rarity and that there’s no guarantee that it’ll continue. Like, we will continue to be boygenius and be friends, but we also will get back to our own things.”
Focal single “Not Strong Enough” ruled the Adult Alternative Airplay chart for seven weeks. The song has since earned a Grammy nomination for record of the year — boygenius is the only band, and only rock artist, in the running this year.
[embedded content]
Regan credits its success to the band’s eagerness to be vulnerable with its audience; throughout The Record, the three members of boygenius share a holistic view of their internal life, processing every emotion from grief to anger to joy.
“We all love a catchy song that grabs your ear and rattles around in there for a while, and those things come and go and that’s great,” Regan says. “With boygenius, there is this connection point with their fans and just a genuine approach to the music itself. They’re not doing this because they need to. They’re doing this because they found something in each other — and that is a very healthy thing for music.”
Boygenius is directly playing to a historically underserved market in the music business: the LGBTQ+ community. As Billboard reported in a 2022 study with Luminate, LGBTQ+ audiences regularly outspend their straight-identifying counterparts on music, including merchandise, live shows and especially physical sales. Of The Record’s first-week sales, a whopping 67% were vinyl purchases, helping score the group a No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart. Beyond boygenius, Demi Lovato’s Revamped (which reimagined her biggest hits as rock epics) made a top 10 entry on the Top Rock Albums and Top Alternative Albums charts, while queer-fronted rock group Greta Van Fleet notched its third No. 1 on Top Rock Albums with Starcatcher.
As Regan says, it’s about time that queer artists and queer fans begin taking up space in the genre. “I mean, shame on us, the alternative rock space, for taking so long to come around,” he says. “We’re supposed to be the ones on the cutting edge — we’re supposed to be the ones taking the sounds, the culture that historically would be on the fringe and bring them into the middle of the dancefloor. It sucks that it took all this time to do it, but when it’s done by artists like this, they get to hold up a mirror to the audience and say, ‘It’s safe. You can be yourself with us because we’re being ourselves with you.’ ”
Despite what self-proclaimed sentinels like Wenner might say, boygenius spent 2023 definitively showing that women and queer artists can be just as “articulate” and “intellectual” as any other straight, white, male master of rock music — and in this case, they can open the door for even more articulate, intellectual rock stars to come.
This story originally appeared in the Dec. 9, 2023, issue of Billboard.
12/11/2023
From major label pop albums to introspective indie projects, LGBTQ+ artists brought their artistic visions to life throughout 2023.
12/11/2023
In need of some new songs from your favorite queer artists? Billboard Pride has got you covered with the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
From the introduction of Fletcher’s new era to Tokischa’s steamy new single, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
Fletcher, “Eras of Us”
[embedded content]
After sending TikTok into a frenzy with a series of teasers over the last few weeks, pop darling Fletcher finally unveiled “Eras of Us,” her latest heartbreak anthem. Oscillating between dreamy synth-pop and driving rock, Fletcher conjures up that uncomfortable moment of running into your ex for the first time in a while, offering polite small talk like “how are you doing?” and “where have you been?” from the song’s outset. As the beat ratchets up, so do the star’s lyrics, as she lives vicariously through the memories of a relationship long passed and wonders what the future could look like. It’s Fletcher doing what she does best, which makes “Eras of Us” an instant winner.
Tokischa feat. Sexyy Red, “Daddy”
[embedded content]
Calling all sugar babies; Tokischa is here and ready to pamper you. On “Daddy,” the rising rapper gets fully into her paternal vibe as she declares that yes, she’s more than happy to be your daddy. With a delicious dembow and trap-pop melody underscoring her sensual lyrics, Tokischa lets featured guest Sexyy Red know exactly what she’s willing to provide (in both English and Spanish), while giving the audience a deliriously fun new dance track to boogie to all weekend long.
Channel Tres, “Walked in the Room”
[embedded content]
If you’re in need of an immediate vibe adjustment, Channel Tres is once again ready to give you just that. With his sleek new single “Walked in the Room,” Tres oozes nothing confidence and sexuality over a grooving disco house track that will properly wipe all your troubles away. Between killer lyrics like “Don’t doubt me, baby/ I kill the chaos with a smirk,” and a bass line that never lets up for the song’s 3 minute runtime, “Walked in the Room” demands your attention ASAP.
Zora, “Fastlane”
[embedded content]
Up-and-coming rapper Zora is ready to burn some rubber and talk some trash. On “Fastlane,” the 23-year-old artist gasses herself up and takes off into a kiss-off to any and all of her haters. Flexing bars about leaving her detrators in the dust while being boosted even further by a thundering hip-house beat, Zora blazes ahead on this uproariously fun new track.
Laura Jane Grace, “Cuffing Season”
[embedded content]
Stripping back her innate rock sensibility, Laura Jane Grace spends the majority of “Cuffing Season” focusing her energy inward. The melancholy new song sees the Against Me! leader ruminating on relationships, age, and the places where the two meet. Positing questions like “If what goes around is what comes around is what goes around again/ How you gonna move it,” Grace opens herself to the power of vulnerability — even if it just means getting hurt all over again.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
If new episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race were on your holiday wishlist, then Mama Ru is here with excellent news for you.
On Wednesday (Dec. 6), MTV officially announced the full cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 16. Set to air starting Friday, Jan. 5, the new episodes of the Emmy-winning franchise will see 14 new queens enter the werk room and compete for a cash prize of $200,000, as well as the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.
The new cast features drag performers Amanda Tori Meating, Dawn, Geneva Karr, Hershii Liqcour-Jeté, Megami, Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige, Mirage, Morphine Love Dion, Nymphia Wind, Plane Jane, Plasma, Q, Sapphira Cristál and Xunami Muse.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Season 16’s premiere, meanwhile, will be a two-part event with the queens split into two different groups. Performing in their respective talent shows — themed after MTV staples like Spring Break and the Teen Choice Awards — each of the premiere episodes is set to feature a “gag worthy twist,” where the queens will rate each other’s performances to determine who ends up in the top and bottom positions.
In an interview with Billboard earlier this year, RuPaul attributed the ongoing success of the Drag Race franchise to the fabulous performers who come to compete each season. “What makes the show fresh is that each season, we get these fabulous, courageous artists who come on and share their stories with us and the world,” he said. “As producers, we do what we can to create the infrastructure, but the new blood and energy coming from our contestants is what makes the show what it is.”
Season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race premieres Friday, Jan. 5, at 8 p.m. ET on MTV. Check out the show’s official “Meet the Queens” video below:
[embedded content]
Billie Eilish again confirmed that she’s part of the LGBTQ community in a red carpet interview at the Variety Hitmakers Brunch on Saturday (Dec. 2), just a couple weeks after she first told Variety that she’s “attracted” to women in her November cover story. After the event was over, however, she took to Instagram to call out the publication, alleging that she was outed on the red carpet.
“thanks variety for my award and for also outing me on a red carpet at 11 am instead of talking about anything else that matters,” the 21-year-old pop star wrote, captioning clips from the Hitmakers event as well as a photo of her pants pulled down to her thighs, taken while she was presumably sitting on the toilet.
“i like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares,” she added. “stream ‘what was i made for’🥸,” she added in reference to her Grammy-nominated Barbie soundtrack song.
Eilish’s post most likely referenced the on-camera interview she gave to Variety‘s Tiana DeNicola, who asked the Grammy winner, “Did you mean to come out in [your cover story]?”
As both of them laughed, Eilish replied, “No I didn’t, but I kinda thought, Wasn’t it obvious?“
In the Nov. 13 Power of Women issue, Eilish confessed that she’s “attracted to [women] for real … I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”
“I just don’t really believe in [coming out],” continued the “Happier Than Ever” singer on the red carpet. “I’m just like, why can’t we just exist? I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops. But … I saw the article and I was like, ‘Oh! I guess I came out today!’”
The musician went on to pick up the Hitmakers award for Film Song of the Year, earning recognition for her Barbie contribution “What Was I Made For.” The track is also nominated for record of the year, song of the year, best pop solo performance, best song written for visual media and best music video at next year’s Grammys.
See Eilish’s post below:
Billie Eilish wasn’t aware that a recent interview would be perceived as a coming out story, but she’s cool with it.
“I didn’t, but I kinda thought, wasn’t it obvious?” the pop star said to Variety on the red carpet for the Variety Hitmakers Brunch, where she and brother Finneas were being honored with the film song of the year award for their Barbie soundtrack tune “What Was I Made For?” on Saturday (Dec. 2). “I didn’t realize people didn’t know.”
In the publication’s Nov. 13 cover story, Eilish had mentioned that she’s attracted to women: “I love them so much,” she said. “I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real … I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Eilish has only ever been in public relationships with men, most recently The Neighbourhood’s Jesse Rutherford before their breakup in May.
Speaking on the red carpet Saturday about the Variety cover story and the concept of coming out, she casually said, “I just don’t really believe in it. I’m just like, why can’t we just exist? I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.”
“But … I saw the article and I was like, ‘Oh! I guess I came out today!’” Eilish said with a laugh.
“It’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know, so it’s cool that they know,” the singer added. “But ooh, I’m nervous talking about it.”
“I am for the girls,” confirmed Eilish, who will soon be seen as the musical guest on the Kate McKinnon-hosted Dec. 16 episode of SNL.
“I’m still scared of ’em,” she added in the red carpet interview, “but I think they’re pretty.”
Watch the interview clip via Variety below.
Billy Porter has always blazed his own trail in Hollywood. And now, the music world is finally catching up. In a new interview with Billboard News‘ Tetris Kelly, the actor/musician talks about his latest album, last month’s Black Mona Lisa, and why now was the time to release his most ambitious music project yet. “The […]
With the holiday season in full effect, why not give yourself some much needed cheer with new songs from your favorite queer artists? Billboard Pride is proud to present the latest edition of Queer Jams of the Week, our roundup of some of the best new music releases from LGBTQ artists.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
From Kaytranada’s surprising new singles to Dove Cameron’s long-awaited debut album, check out just a few of our favorite new releases from this week here:
KAYTRANADA feat. Rochelle Jordan & Channel Tres, “Lover/Friend” & “Stuntin”
[embedded content]
Leave it to Kaytranada to give us a breath of fresh air right before 2023 comes to a close. On his pair of new singles “Lover/Friend” and “Stuntin,” the taste-making producer/DJ continues his hot streak of creating airy, grooving house jams to keep your party going. Throughout “Lover/Friend,” Kay and Rochelle Jones enrapture their audience with a scintillating melody, while “Stuntin” sees him team up with Channel Tres for a perfectly in-the-pocket jam session.
Dove Cameron, Alchemical: Volume 1
[embedded content]
Taking one thing and transmuting it into something brand new is virtually impossible — but as Dove Cameron proves on Alchemical: Volume 1, it’s a worthy endeavor. With her debut album, the fast-rising alt-pop singer adds trauma, heartbreak, pain and self-doubt into a bubbling cauldron of brooding melodies and top-shelf songwriting, mixing them together until they morph into A+ pop songs rife with life lessons and self-actualization. Alchemical isn’t quite magic, but with Cameron at the helm, it sure feels like it.
Holly Humberstone feat. MUNA, “Into Your Room”
[embedded content]
Did you really like Holly Humberstone’s “Into Your Room” but just wished it had a touch more flair? Enter MUNA. On the band’s remixed version of Humberstone’s already-excellent single, the sounds slightly shift to an electro-pop groove, as the trio jump into the second verse to add their own interpretation of the track’s hopeless romantic aesthetic. It’s a match made in heaven, and one you ought to hear ASAP.
carpetgarden, “Cheerleader”
[embedded content]
Gimme a Y! Gimme an E! Gimme an S! What’s that spell? YES. With their latest release, rising indie rock singer Carpetgarden is ready to take on the role of the titular cheerleader in this fuzzy new jam. Throughout the punk-adjacent, angst-fueled new jam, Carpetgarden takes on a voyeuristic point of view when looking at the “popular girls” of the world, wishing that they could know what it feels like to have that kind of power — and with more music to come, it’s a near-certainty that they’ll get to feel that mass adoration soon enough.
RAEGAN, “Coins”
[embedded content]
Looking for a quick confidence boost as you head into the weekend? Rising alt-pop artist Raegan has got you covered. On “Coins,” the singer-songwriter celebrates the pay off to a long-fought journey. Instead of wallowing in the could’ve-been, Raegan instead focuses on the here and now, counting her dollars and reaping the benefits of her hard work. Add in a slick beat and grinding bass line, and you’ll feel that infectious energy start to pay you in dividends.
Check out all of our picks in Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below: