State Champ Radio Pride
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When she took to the stage during OUTLOUD at WeHo Pride on Saturday (June 1), Sophie Ellis-Bextor certainly did not kill the groove.
In an interview with Billboard News before her set, the “Murder on the Dancefloor” singer spoke about her love for Pride events, saying that she was honored to be included among artists such as Kylie Minogue, Janelle Monáe and plenty of others.
“It’s a very inclusive, supportive, warm audience,” she says. “I know we talk a lot about being your authentic self to the point where we kind of don’t think about what that means. But actually, being able to feel comfortable in your own skin is one of the biggest things you can do for someone … I think the fact you get that in a very pure form at events like Pride is just a really joyous thing.”
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The singer added that after the shutdowns caused by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, Pride events have felt “particularly moving” for the last few years. “I know how significant that made family is for the community. So, the fact that people might have been at home and unable to see their friends was a really significant loss,” she says.” When we were all back together, and looking at this sea of very young faces, it made me feel quite emotional.”
Ellis-Bextor said that she can trace her journey as an artist through the various Pride events she’s played through her career. “I can kind of credit pretty much everything about how I perform to my relationship with my LGBTQ+ audience,” she says. “Because it’s been those shows that I’ve done that have really kind of crystallized and helped me feel safe on stage, excited and relaxed. My lack of inhibition is completely down to them.”
The singer has already had a massive 2024, thanks to the resurgence of “Murder on the Dancefloor” after the song was featured in Emerald Fennell’s 2023 thriller Saltburn. Climbing to No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 more than 20 years after it was originally released, Ellis-Bextor says she’s grateful to be seen by a whole new audience as a result.
“The whole reason I’m here in L.A. today is because of what happened with ‘Murder’ and Saltburn, because that’s what gave me the opportunity to tour here. It’s been amazing,” she says. “There will be some young people who only remember me as the ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ lady — but to be honest, that’s absolutely fine with me.”
Watch Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s full interview with Billboard News above.
Sophie Ellis-Bexter performed her hit brought back to life “Murder on the Dancefloor” at WeHo Pride 2024. She talks to Billboard about how the LGBTQ+ community has supported her throughout her career, her tour in America, a new album in the making and more! Sophie Ellis-Bextor:I know that there’ll be some young people that will […]
45 years ago, disco icon Sylvester performed what would ultimately become one of his most famous concerts to date at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. The performance became the basis for his 1979 live album Living Proof, and served as the debut ground for his album Stars. And soon, fans can listen to the Queen of Disco’s performance in full.
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On Wednesday (June 5), Craft Recordings announced the release of Live at the Opera House, a new live album from the late legend that shares the famed concert in full. Today, fans are getting an exclusive sneak peak of what to expect with a new live cut of “Body Strong,” the exuberant disco track that Sylvester debuted during the concert alongside Martha Wash.
The new LP features more than an hour of unreleased music from the live concert, including a brief ceremony in which Sylvester receives the key to the city of San Francisco. The physical editions of the new album — available on both a 3-LP vinyl and 2-CD format — also come with recently discovered photographs from the evening, as well as brand new liner notes from Joshua Gamson, author of the biography The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, The Music, The Seventies in San Francisco.
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“That Sylvester – an androgynous, openly gay, drag-loving, African American, falsetto-singing, unapologetically flaming man-diva influenced primarily by church women, Black blues singers, drag queens, hippies, and homosexuals – would be the central diva at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House in March of 1979 was as unlikely as it was inevitable,” Gamson writes in his new liner notes. “Aside from a few thousand souls, most of us missed it. It was a lot to miss, too: a peek into the career of an ahead-of-his-time artist, a poignant moment in San Francisco and queer history, a couple of hours of collective effervescence set to music.”
Sylvester’s Live at the Opera House arrives Sept. 6th via Craft Recordings. Listen to the exclusive single “Body Strong” and check out the full tracklist of the new live album below:
[embedded content]
Live at the Opera House tracklist:
Overture (Grateful/You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)/Dance (Disco Heat))
Body Strong
Medley #1: Everything Must Change / You Are My Love
Medley #2: Could This Be Magic / A Song For You
Blackbird / Sylvester Day Proclamation
Happiness
Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?)
Sharing Something Perfect Between Ourselves
I (Who Have Nothing)
You Are My Friend
Dance (Disco Heat)
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)
Overture (Reprise)
Never Can Say Goodbye
After touring the world as Madonna’s emcee, drag star Bob the Drag Queen is ready to get back on the road with a show of his own.
On Tuesday (June 4), the Drag Race winner announced his new comedy tour, the This Is Wild! World Tour. Set to take place this fall, Bob’s new show will kick off the 35-date North American leg of the tour in Sacramento, Calif., on Sept. 18, before heading to cities including Seattle, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles, before closing out the show at the Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas on Nov. 15.
The new show will see Bob flexing his skills as a multi-hyphenate, including “stand-up comedy, crowd work and music, all while entertaining his audience with the charisma and flair,” according to a press release. In a statement, Bob made it clear just how much fun he intends to have on the road: “If you’ve ever laughed with me on the internet, wait till you see me in person.”
The new North American dates of Bob’s tour join a suite of previously announced shows in Australia, set to begin in Brisbane on July 18 at the QPAC Concert Hall. The star will perform shows throughout the month in Sydney and Melbourne before closing out at the Astor Theater in Perth on July 24.
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Bob spent the last year on the road with Madonna for her Celebration World Tour, serving as the emcee for her decades-spanning setlist. Speaking to Billboard in 2023 before the tour started, Bob said that working with the pop legend had already proven to be a validating experience. “She respects me in a way that doesn’t feel like a novelty,” he said. “Obviously, what matters most is how I feel about myself, but still, a stamp of approval from Madonna is just like … ‘What?!’”
Check out the full list of dates for the North American leg of Bob the Drag Queen’s This Is Wild! World Tour below:
Bob the Drag Queen
Courtesy Photo
Among the platitudes that are shared every Pride Month, “accept yourself” is one of the most common — but pop star Kim Petras wants to examine the actual meaning behind that phrase. In a post to her Instagram Stories on Monday (June 3), the pop singer shared a “lil pride message for anyone who needs […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Mariah Carey isn’t just celebrating The Emancipation of Mimi during her Las Vegas residency, she’s also taking a moment to observe […]
Taylor Swift and tens of thousands of fans spent the second day of Pride Month singing and dancing at the Eras Tour concert in Lyon, France, and the pop star was sure to mark the occasion during a sweet moment on stage Sunday (June 2). The celebratory shout-out came toward the beginning of Swift’s three-hour-plus […]
Happy Pride from Katy Perry! As Pride Month begins, the pop star marked the occasion with a message of encouragement in the form of a heavily reworked take on the controversial — to say it lightly — grad speech given by the Kansas City Chiefs’ Harrison Butker at Benedictine College.
In a 20-minute speech on May 11, the football player condemned LGBTQ rights and attacked what he called “dangerous gender ideologies.” He spoke against abortion, birth control, IVF and surrogacy. He told female college graduates, whom he claims have been told “diabolical lies,” to embrace being a “homemaker.”
“I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” he said, directing his words to the women who were there for their college graduation.
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“fixed this for my girls, my graduates, and my gays — you can do anything, congratulations and happy pride,” Perry captioned a post on Instagram on Saturday (June 1). She shared a Perry-approved version of Butker’s speech.
Here is a transcript of the edit of Butker’s commencement speech posted by Perry: “For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. How many of you are sitting here now, about to cross this stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you’re going to get in your career? I would venture to guess the women here today are going to lead successful careers in the world. I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand: how much happier someone can be supporting women, and not saying that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. The road ahead is bright. Things are changing. Society is shifting and people young and old are embracing diversity, equity and inclusion. With that said, I want to say Happy Pride to all of you, and congratulations class of 2024.”
In a puzzling move, Butker’s speech had also quoted a lyric from Taylor Swift (“my teammate’s girlfriend,” he said, instead of naming names), apparently forgetting Swift’s decades-long dedication to her career; this week Swift, still on her historic international Eras Tour, holds onto No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for the sixth week in a row with her latest studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the “teammate” in reference, weighed in on the speech on his New Heights podcast after his teammate’s words went viral. Kelce said in the seven years he’s known Butker, he’s viewed him as a “great person and great teammate.” “When it comes down to his views and what he said … those are his,” said Kelce. “I can’t say I agree with the majority of it, or just about any of it outside of him loving his family and his kids. I don’t think I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life. That’s just not who I am.”
Watch Perry’s version of the much-talked-about commencement speech below. The star just finished her run on American Idol and has been teasing that new music is on the horizon.
This Pride Month, Billboard asked artists to write a series of love letters to their LGBTQ fans, highlighting what the community means to them as people and as artists. Below, R&B sensation UMI shares her coming out story, and thanks the community for “being my family.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts […]
This Pride Month, Billboard asked artists to write a series of love letters to their LGBTQ fans, highlighting what the community means to them as people and as artists. Below, Max Ernst of SHAED shares his coming out story, and thanks the community for “being my family.” Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, […]
