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November means the start of classic end-of-year traditions: preparing for the holidays, seeing family… and finally seeing which artists did (or didn’t) get nominated for Grammys. On Friday (Nov. 10), the Recording Academy unveiled the full list of nominees for the 2024 Grammy Awards, set to take place Sunday, Feb. 4. In the latest round […]
As you peruse through this year’s Grammy nominations, why not listen to some top-tier new tracks 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.
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From Kim Petras’ new collaboration with David Guetta to 070 Shake’s hypnotic new song, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
David Guetta & Kim Petras, “When We Were Young (The Logical Song)”
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When you combine a legendary French DJ, a German-born pop princess and a British rock group, you get something pretty magical in return. With “When We Were Young (The Logical Song),” Kim Petras teams up with production superstar David Guetta to put their own twist on a Supertramp sample, making for a chaotic joyride through the pair’s shared Eurodance DNA. Pulsing with house pianos and a relentless German techno beat, Guetta’s electronic flourishes fit perfectly with Petras’ powerhouse vocal as they look back on the good old days.
070 Shake feat. Ken Carson, “Natural Habitat”
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Among her many talents as an artist, 070 Shake’s ability to create a sonic universe in the span of less than four minutes has always reigned supreme. Yet on her latest single “Natural Habitat” featuring Ken Carson, Shake shows just how good she is worldbuilding. Over the course of this hypnotic, deeply chaotic new track, the rising star immediately employs disorienting distortions to throw listeners off balance as she spins a story about feeling stuck inside a lover’s head. With a fiery verse from Carson and some top-tier songwriting, Shake perfectly encapsulates her song’s delirious message in this mystifying new track.
Dove Cameron, “Sand”
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With her latest single, Dove Cameron asks a nearly-philosophical question of her listeners from the outset; “What’s worse — being wanted but not loved, or loved but not wanted?” For the duration of “Sand,” the pop singer-songwriter’s latest track off her forthcoming album Alchemical: Volume 1, Cameron examines the end of her relationship with omniscient clarity, declaring that their romance was doomed from the beginning because “you couldn’t love the way I can.” The swelling, orchestral accompaniment is only further punctuated by the singer’s vocoder-assisted chorus, making “Sand” an entrancing piece of heartbreak that’s as fragile as its namesake.
Sleater-Kinney, “Say It Like You Mean It”
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There is a quiet fury to Corin Tucker’s voice on “Say It Like You Mean It” when she tells her lover, “I need to hear it before you go.” That underlying frustration permeates Sleater-Kinney’s new song, as Tucker and Brownstein pay tribute to the messy, bitter, infuriating ending of a passionate love affair. With a droning riff diffusing the background of the song, the pair go to work deconstructing both their sound and their own emotions on this thrilling, heartbreaking new song.
Aurora, “Your Blood”
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Best known for her haunting, ethereal voice, Norwegian pop star Aurora is ready to give that voice something important to say. On “Your Blood,” Aurora pushes aside the nihilism that tends to weave its way through modern conversation to embrace empathy and compassion, singing to a friend to share their burden with her. Accompanying that weighty goal is a truly undeniable pop banger, fueled by sparkling synths and cheerful guitars, accentuating her missive of hope with a glittering pop spectacle.
Peach PRC, “Like a Girl Does”
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Australian pop sensation Peach PRC is not known for her subtlety — and on “Like a Girl Does,” she raises her curt songwriting to a new level. The glitching new track sees the singer once again lambasting silly boys in her music, but this time bringing the Sapphic themes explored throughout her discography right up to the forefront as she proudly declares that a man who tries to “change your mind with his d–k” simply couldn’t “love like a girl does.” The playful, catchy melody immediately worms is way into your ear, and within moments, you’ll find yourself throwing your middle finger up at the nearest f–kboy.
Laura Jane Grace, “Hole in My Head”
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After a mind-numbing week of work, sometimes you just need some catharsis — luckily, Against Me star Laura Jane Grace is here to deliver you the goods. On the short-but-oh-so-sweet “Hole in My Head,” the rocker plugs into a fuzzy punk sensibility to celebrate the mood-shifting beauty of a good rock song. Sure, Grace argues, you could try and numb the monotony and the pain of your day to day life — but “that would be a real bore.” Instead, press play on this song and let all that pent-up rage out for a minute and a half.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
Looking for a magnificent, opulent, tremendous, stupendous, gargantuan, bedazzlement, a sensual ravishment? Look no further than Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway, where ’80s superstar Boy George is set to light up the stage in 2024.
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During his latest appearance on the TODAY show on Monday (Nov. 6), George revealed that he would be joining the cast of the Tony Award-winning musical in the role of Harold Zidler, the enigmatic and fabulous owner of the titular club, starting on Feb. 6, and running until May 12.
Speaking with hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, George said that he was particularly excited to be joining an ensemble cast, something he prefers when it comes to live performing. “Just being part of an ensemble is really fun,” he said. “You can’t have an ego, because there’s too many people. It’s about fitting in, especially because everyone’s been doing this show for a while. So, hopefully, they’re going to teach me.”
Moulin Rouge! will not mark Boy George’s first time on the Great White Way. Back in 2003, the singer debuted his original musical Taboo, which told the story of his life in conjunction with the founding of his band Culture Club and the New Romantic club scene in London. The show was nominated for four Tony Awards in 2004, including best original score for George’s music.
In the meantime, George is currently promoting his new autobiography Karma, described as a story recounting “the drama, the music, his journey of addiction and recovery, surviving prison,” and much more. During his appearance on the TODAY show, George reminisced about the massive success of “Karma Chameleon,” the desire for himself and his band to find success in the U.S., and how he was sure from a young age that he would be famous. He said, “I guess I just knew I wasn’t going to play football and climb trees.”
With the spooky season officially behind us and the end of the year fast approaching, it’s time to start finding even more new songs from your favorite queer artists before 2023 wraps. 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.
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See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
From Kevin Abstract’s complex new album to Cat Burns’ introspective new single, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
Kevin Abstract, Blanket
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Starting something new can often bring up old wounds, a fact that Kevin Abstract is embracing fully on his new album Blanket. Throughout the lush, 13-track project, the former Brockhampton member disengages from his present and clings onto the past, seeking out comfort when being offered none in the moment. Imbuing the ew LP with a shoegaze, indie-rock sensibility to further amp up that sense of deep nostalgia, Abstract encapsulates the feeling of searching for meaning when you are in need of it most.
Cat Burns, “Know That You’re Not Alone”
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Cat Burns knows what it feels like to be stuck in place — and she wants to make sure that others in the same boat get a chance to look up for a change. The driving ethos behind “Know That You’re Not Alone” sits comfortably in the song’s title, as Burns bluntly and easily explains her journey with self-worth, anxiety and therapy. With a boisterous, uplifting chorus, the rising UK star doesn’t offer any easy solutions for anyone experiencing the same kind of situation — she just wants them to know that there are many others who’ve been there, herself included.
Tokischa, “Candy”
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Dominican superstar Tokischa is back, and she’s ready to party. With “Candy,” Tokischa embraces the dembow stylings to deliver a fast-paced, slickly produced ode to getting high and keeping the vibes correct. With rapid-fire Spanish bars and a beat that simply won’t quit, “Candy” aims to get you partying right alongside Tokischa — and by all measures, it’s an unmitigated success.
Matt Rogers, Have You Heard of Christmas?
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After the self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas announced that the season had finally arrived, comedian and singer Matt Rogers wasted absolutely no time. On Have You Heard of Christmas?, Rogers gives you everything that you hope to hear on a Christmas album — huge vocals, excellent production, well-executed guest verses (yes, MUNA, VINCINT, Leland and Bowen Yang all make appearances throughout), and oodles of holiday cheer. Once you mix in Rogers’ razor sharp commentary and wit into the mix, you have an all-time great Christmas project on your hands, and one you’ll be playing for many holiday seasons to come.
King Isis, “Make It Up”
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Still finding yourself clinging to the Halloween season? King Isis is here to give you all the eerie vibes you could want on “Make It Up.” The droning rock track sees the up-and-coming artist embrace some nihilism as they look back on a failed relationship with a mix of apathy and trepidation. As Isis asks their ex “What will it take for you to hold me down or help me up,” the relentless melody joins them, offering a foreboding sense of danger to this enigmatic (and excellent) new song.
Teddy Geiger, Teresa
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After a lifetime of coming to terms with the concept of transformation, Teddy Geiger is fully embracing the concept with her latest LP Teresa. Taking on the less-than-literal persona promised by the title, Geiger dabbles in a new dream-pop soundscape throughout the cohesive album, conjuring up an ethereal plane of pleasure and pain with every successive song. “It’s been really nice to focus on what it feels like, what it sounds like and what it looks like for me as an artist at this point,” she told Billboard back in August, upon announcing Teresa. “It took some time, but I’m now feeling really focused on myself and my artistry.”
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
It’s been a busy week in New York for Reneé Rapp. Between singing “For Good” for the 20th anniversary of Wicked with fellow singer-songwriter Lizzy McAlpine on Monday (Oct. 30), or serenading Lola Tung with “One Less Lonely Girl” while dressed as Justin Bieber on Tuesday (Oct. 31), the rising star has made the most of her time in the Big Apple.
But during her sold-out performance at the Avant Gardner in Brooklyn on Thursday night (Nov. 2), Rapp brought out her biggest guest yet — pop superstar Kesha. The pair performed a vamped-up, rocked-out version the latter’s 2010 hit “Your Love Is My Drug.”
A little more than halfway through her headlining set, Rapp spoke to her rapt audience about the influential artists who inspired her throughout her life. “I want to talk about the people who, musically, personally, and professionally, I look up to and regard so highly,” she said. “They shaped who I was as a kid, and made me want to be sexy, and funny, and exciting, and outrageous, and loud and, most of all, really f–king sexy. So what better way to honor one of those women, [than] by doing one of their songs?”
Rapp proceeded to perform a sped-up rock version of the pop single, much to the crowd’s delight. But as she reached the song’s second verse, she called Kesha out onto the stage — dressed in all black with a pair of tinted sunglasses and a leather jacket, Kesha acoompanied a visibly stunned Rapp onstage for a rousing performance of the song. “I f–king love you, Reneé,” Kesha declared as they reached the song’s bridge.
Once the song was over, Rapp couldn’t contain her excitement any longer. “Getting to sing with one of your idols, who is unapologetically perfect is so insane,” Rapp said giddily to the crowd. “We just sang a song, like, ‘lovesick crackhead,’ and I’m gonna cry. Oh f–k that was so cool!”
Check out two clips of Reneé Rapp and Kesha duetting to “Your Love Is My Drug” below:
After a right-wing preacher targeted her online, Flamy Grant watched as their follower numbers skyrocketed, their album Bible Belt Baby soared to the top of the iTunes Christian charts, and their song “Good Day” earned their first entry on a Billboard chart.
But now, the drag artist, whose very name appears to be a wink at the name of longtime genre mainstay Amy Grant, is setting their sights on the Grammys. In a statement sent to Billboard, Grant says that they had submitted their album for consideration in the annual awards ceremony’s best contemporary Christian music album category, only to find out the project had been removed from the category and placed in the best pop vocal album category.
“I know next-to-nothing about the Grammy nomination process, so when we saw you couldn’t vote for it in best contemporary Christian [music] album, I just assumed that was the end of the road. It was a total shock when an Academy member sent me a message several days later to say she was excited to vote for me in best pop vocal album,” Blake says in the statement. “Pop music is included in the contemporary Christian category. The only logical conclusion I can come to is that someone in the Academy decided my album qualifies as pop, but not as Christian.”
Here is the category description of best contemporary Christian music album, drawn from the 66th annual Grammy Awards rulebook: “For albums — vocal only. Screening criteria: This category recognizes excellence in a solo duo, group, or collaborative performance of contemporary Christian music, including pop, rap/hip-hop, Latin and rock…”
In an official statement shared with Billboard, the Recording Academy confirmed that Grant’s album had been moved into the best pop vocal album category based on “explicit language/content” used in one of the album’s songs. “The Academy is an open and inclusive organization that embraces artists from all backgrounds and genres,” the statement reads.
The song in question is Grant’s “Esther, Ruth and Rahab,” in which Grant celebrates the women of the Bible whose stories are often left unsung. “So I guess the lesson there was God would only hear a prayer/ If it came from a person with a c–k,” she sings in one passage of the song.
When it comes to the gospel and contemporary Christian screening committees, the Academy reiterated that group is made up of “artists, genre experts, songwriters, and producers within the Gospel & CCM genres.” The rules and guidelines for the 2023 ceremony states that “if a genre Screening Committee determines that a recording should be moved to another genre, the recording is forwarded and screened by that genre committee.”
While there is no overt rule against explicit lyrics being included in Christian categories, the Academy reiterated that the re-categorization of works with explicit content is “a standard practice for the Gospel & CCM genre committee, given that the Gospel & CCM Field consists of lyrics-based categories that reflect a Christian worldview.”
A total of 83 albums are vying for nominations for best contemporary Christian music album. Best pop vocal album is a more competitive category, with 128 albums entered this year.
In her statement, Grant asserts that she was not made aware of the screening committee’s practice regarding explicit lyrics. “My faith journey has been long and difficult, but I’m still here, still taking up space in Christianity, still advocating for the inclusion of queer kids like me who grow up in these churches that ignore and oppress them,” she said. “I’m very used to gatekeepers in the worlds of church and Christian music — that’s a big part of why I’ve dedicated myself to this work. But I never expected to encounter religious gatekeeping at the Grammys.”
As a vocal advocate and ally to the LGBTQ+ community, Dolly Parton has made a point to call for inclusivity and acceptance throughout her career. Now, she’s speaking out once again to defend transgender people being targeted by state-level laws. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Thursday (Nov. 2), Parton was […]
There is no subtle way to say this: Lil Nas X managed to outdo himself, and just about everyone else with his Halloween costume this year. The “Industry Baby” rapper loves to push our buttons with outrageous stage outfits and sets, but on Tuesday (Oct. 31) Montero took things to a whole new level with […]
It’s been almost three years since JoJo Siwa came out as a member of the LGBTQ community — and now, she’s ready to speak candidly about the blowback she received as a result.
In the debut episode of the reality star’s new iHeartMedia-produced podcast JoJo Siwa Now, Siwa talks at length about her coming out story, reflecting on how she decided to tell her fans that she identified as queer. “I was on the phone with my girlfriend at the time, and I said ‘I think I wanna come out to the world,’” she recalled. “I posted this picture and threw it on my Instagram Story, and that’s how I confirmed it … I didn’t think twice about it.”
The reaction, she said, were largely positive — but there were still plenty of people who were not happy that Siwa was sharing her truth publicly. “There was also a lot of negativity, and I did lose a lot,” she said. “I didn’t care, and I still don’t care about the things I lost and the people that I lost and if I lost a chunk of fans, because it’s who I am.”
Further explaining her point, Siwa, 20, explained that she had built her career off of “being genuine,” and if members of her audience couldn’t deal with her sexuality, then they were welcome to leave. “If you didn’t like me because [one day] I was straight, and [the next day] I was gay, then you’re not meant to like me anyways,” she said. “I just try to really be genuine, really be who I am.”
This is not the first time Siwa has talked about backlash to her coming out — during an interview on The Viall Files back in July, the Dance Moms star said that a number of corporations decided to “blackball” her from working with them because of her sexuality. “I had a lot of people of corporations [who] told me that I made the wrong choice and that I shouldn’t have come out,” she said at the time. “[They said] that I shouldn’t tell my young demographic that I’m gay.”
Siwa is currently starring as a contestant on the second season of Fox reality series Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, in which a group of celebrities are subjected to military bootcamp-style challenges, until they decide to leave the competition.
Check out the full first episode of JoJo Siwa Now below:
Happy Halloweekend! Help prep for your spooky festivities this Halloween season with some new tracks 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
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
From Ashnikko’s annual Halloween single to Serpentwithfeet’s excellent new track, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
Ashnikko, “Halloweenie V: The Moss King”
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For the last five years, Ashnikko has blessed our eardrums with a ghoulish new single around Halloween — and 2023 is certainly no exception. Replete with raging guitars and eerie synths, “Halloweenie V: The Moss King” conjures up a new creature from Ashnikko’s vivid imagination. With her typical industrial breakdowns and flaming hot lyrics, the alt-pop star makes The Moss King your newest nightmare, and ensures you’ll keep the haunting going by replaying her song over and over again.
Serpentwithfeet feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Yanga YaYa, “Damn Gloves”
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Don’t threaten Serpentwithfeet with a good time — let him show you just how good a time you can have. With his latest single “Damn Gloves,” the rising electro-R&B star gives in to his deepest, dance-fueled desires, letting his lover know all the various ways he could pleasure them. His crisp, clean vocals drift over a pounding dance beat, while hip-hop superstar Ty Dolla $ign joins him for a sexed-up verse of his own, and rising South African soul artist Yanga YaYa joins for a short-but-sweet bridge. It’s a steamy, thrilling new track that demands your attention.
Baby Queen, “I Can’t Get My S–t Together”
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We’ve all been in that headspace where it feels like everything you’re doing is just absolutely incorrect — so Baby Queen wrote you a whole song about it. On “I Can’t Get My S–t” together, the up-and-coming alt-pop star gives voice to chaotic thoughts that insist she’s screwing things up. While that might sound dire, don’t worry — Baby Queen’s tongue rests firmly in her cheek as she crafts this effervescent pop tune, ensuring whimsy and delight alongside the song’s impending mental breakdown.
Blondshell, “If It Makes You Happy” (Sheryl Crow cover)
What happens when you combine an exciting new alternative band with the classic songwriting of Sheryl Crow? You get magic, as Blondshell prove with their incredible cover of the rock icon’s “If It Makes You Happy” for Amazon Music. Keeping the spirit of Crow’s original intact, while adding their own distinct layer of grungy angst, Blondshell encapsulate the song’s raw power with this fiery, boastful rendition of an all-time great song.
Brandy Clark, “My Favorite Christmas”
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If you’re already looking forward to the winter holiday season, then Brandy Clark has you covered this Halloweekend. On “My Favorite Christmas,” the country icon embodies the holiday spirit with a moody, wistful new song. Listing out all of the things that she expects from the holiday season, Clark comes to the gorgeously-sung conclusion on the song’s effortless chorus, as she declares that “My favorite Christmas was you.”
Check out all of our picks below in Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist: