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As someone who has carefully built a steady career in the music industry over the last decade, Stephen Wrabel always makes sure he’s speaking with consideration. Even over Zoom, the 34-year-old approaches conversations the same way he does songwriting — with candor, humor and a lot of self-editing.
“Maybe this sounds cliché,” he tells Billboard, before trailing off for a moment and revisiting his last thought. “Actually, I think most things in music sound cliché when you explain them. So that’s just what it is.”
The cliché Wrabel is referring to is the title of his sophomore album, Based on a True Story (out Friday, Nov. 17 via Big Gay Records). Across 13 artfully penned songs, Wrabel tackles his own demons — including sobriety, anxiety and heartbreak — while simultaneously trying to provide space for those listening to insert their own daily struggles into his diaphanous lyrics.
It’s a delicate balance, Wrabel says — writing songs that allow for personal catharsis over painful memories, and also offer some uplifting thesis of hope for listeners. Specificity often opens the door for ubiquity: “When I hear a song and there are those details — like saying ‘It was cold outside,’ or ‘I was wearing a red sweatshirt’ — my brain changes those details to what my details would be,” he explains. “I never want a song to feel overly broad, because I feel like you lose the truth in it.”
Details come in spades throughout Based on a True Story. On “One Drink Away,” Wrabel recalls dark memories of “getting blacked out in the sun” and “a place I won’t go and it’s on my way home,” before arriving at the heart-shattering claim that, despite his progress with sobriety, “I’m just one drink away from who I was.”
It’s a skill the artist has honed through writing for other artists. Along with managing his own solo career, Wrabel spent over a decade building a career as a sought-after songwriter, working alongside artists like Kesha, P!nk, Celeste, Adam Lambert and dozens more. In writing songs for others, Wrabel saw firsthand how his brand of exacting lyrics could impact others.
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Take “Lost Cause,” for instance. A B-side, Wrabel-written ballad off of P!nk’s latest album, the song details the various red flags arriving at a relationship’s dramatic ending, with the singer declaring that they’re “tired of thinking that tragic’s romantic, it’s bad hope.”
Wrabel originally wrote the song “years ago” while in a dark place, intentionally using “pointed” lyrics to cope with a breakup. While on the road with P!nk for her 2019 European tour, he mustered up the courage to play the song for her — and as she later told Billboard, it became one of the first two songs to form what would become Trustfall.
It wasn’t until he was prepping True Story that Wrabel decided to listen back to his original demo of the track. “The more I listened to it, the more it started taking on such deep meaning for me,” he says. “I think that I just started feeling the weight of it, and it ultimately took on this other meaning where I was telling myself, ‘Whatever anyone thinks of me, like, leave room for.’” He ultimately re-recorded his own version of the song, which appears as the penultimate track of his latest project.
While Wrabel speaks with confidence about his skill as a songwriter, he hesitates when it comes to the strategic side of being a solo artist. “I feel like the landscape [of the music industry] right now is like the Wild West — just this chaotic, oversaturated mess,” he says with an exasperated sigh. “For example, my song ‘Love is Not a Simple Thing to Lose,’ the closer for my first album, is probably my favorite song that I’ve ever written, and there are a lot of times where I find myself thinking, ‘Damn, I do kind of wish that that had its moment.’”
So when it came time to release a new solo project, Wrabel relied on the prevailing business minds around him. His management team proposed an idea to release the album in three parts — first with two standalone EPs called Chapter of Me and Chapter of You, with True Story tying the two together with a set of new tracks. Wrabel immediately understood the idea’s potential.
“The positives of that Wild West mentality is it allows me to really take advantage of the fact that I am independent, and I can do literally whatever I want,” he says. “Normally, a song like ‘Beautiful Day’ would be buried as track number nine on the album, where it wouldn’t get its day to shine. This felt like a natural, easy way to give these great songs a moment of their own.”
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Wrabel speaks from experience about songs getting their moment. His signature song “The Village,” an emotional ode to society’s cruel treatment of the LGBTQ community, went viral for a second time earlier this year, after dance troupe Unity delivered a stirring performance to the track on Britain’s Got Talent. The performance and song quickly picked up attention on TikTok, much to the singer’s delight.
“I think maybe four days after I saw their performance, I was on a plane flying to Liverpool to go meet them, because I had to,” Wrabel says. “One of the most beautiful moments of my career was getting to talk with them about their experiences growing up queer, with this internal dread and discomfort that so many of us have felt. To know that there were so many kids sitting with their family, turning on the TV and seeing themselves in this performance just gave me goosebumps. They were just so brave.”
The singer-songwriter is also quick to point out that, despite being released six years ago, “The Village” still sounds as poignant today as it did back in 2017. With right-wing legislatures around the U.S. taking aim at the rights of transgender people — the very community who served as the inspiration for the song — Wrabel can’t help but feel a bit demoralized that there is still something very much wrong in the village.
“This song is six years old, and I don’t know that we’re in a better place,” he says. After a beat, his face lights back up. “But it does give me hope that I get messages from people every day who are hearing it for the first time and relating to it. I’ll never not be talking about ‘The Village’ for as long as I will be making music, and that’s a good thing — it has sort of become a lighthouse in my career.”
That sense of responsibility and care for his fan base is what informs Wrabel’s identity as an artist; even when examining his own idiosyncrasies through music, he maintains a steadfast objective to put out work that provides solace in a world that can feel cruel. “I’m always trying to make something helpful,” he offers with a smile.
The coming out process is different for everyone — and for singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, part of that process meant reconciling with his past partners. In a new interview with GLAAD, Mraz spoke about how his journey to accepting his own bisexuality was made even more complicated by his divorce from Christina Carano, which he announced […]
Billie Eilish‘s sexuality, self-expression and femininity have been scrutinized under a microscope since the pop star was a teenager. Now 21, she’s ready to talk about it. In a new cover story for Variety published Monday (Nov. 13), the “Bad Guy” singer revealed that she’s both attracted to and intimidated by other women, with the […]
While LGBTQ+ representation among artists in the music industry currently enjoys an all-time high, there was a time when it was not socially acceptable for artists to talk about their sexuality — and Barry Manilow is ready to talk about that time.
In a new interview on Max’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?, Manilow sat down with the veteran journalist to discuss his storied career — which includes his decision to come out publicly in 2017. While the singer maintained that his coming out “wasn’t a big deal” at age 72, it could have been catastrophic when he was approaching the height of his popularity.
“Well, in the ’70s, you didn’t [come out]. It wasn’t the same as it is today,” Manilow explained in the interview. “Now, being gay is no being deal, but back in the ’70s, it would’ve killed a career. And Clive [Davis] kind of told me that in his own way: ‘Don’t do that, not yet.’”
Manilow added that along with the fact that “the public was not ready for anybody to come out,” he was also not in a place where he was ready to talk about his sexuality. “Frankly, it was just too personal. I just didn’t want to talk about my personal life anyway, I never did that; I was happy talking about music,” he said. “But talking about my personal life was just kind of creepy to me, so I just never did.”
The “Mandy” singer met his now-husband Garry Kief in the late-’70s, when Kief became Manilow’s manager. “Garry actually kind of saved my life, because as my career exploded … going back to an empty hotel room, you could get into a lot of trouble if you’re alone night after night,” Manilow said. “But I met Garry right when everything was exploding, and I didn’t have to go back to those empty hotel rooms; I had somebody to cry with and to celebrate with.”
As for his decision to ultimately come out? “I think it was a non-event for me,” he said. “Really, Garry and I have been together for so long, it just never dawned on me that we were going to come out. But, when we got married, it was a big deal, so we did.”
Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in a dressing room in New York City, the members of Boygenius — Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus — cannot seem to stop smiling at one another. It could be because they just finished a rehearsal for their performance on Saturday Night Live this weekend (Nov. 11). Or it could be that they just earned a bunch of 2024 Grammy nominations.
On Friday (Nov. 10), the trio found out that they were nominated for a whopping six awards at the 2024 Grammy Awards, including nods for both album and record of the year for the record and “Not Strong Enough,” respectively. Bridgers, earning a seventh nomination for her work with SZA on the song “Ghost in the Machine,” ties Victoria Monét and engineer Serban Ghenea as the second-most nominated artist at the annual ceremony, with SZA leading at nine nominations.
“It feels like I’m in a simultaneous come-up and come-down from a high,” Dacus tells Billboard, looking to her bandmates with a smile and a confounded expression. The group posted a photo of themselves on Instagram, where all three hug one another after finding out about their album of the year nomination. In their dressing room, Bridgers, Baker and Dacus regularly reach around to grab each other’s hands, still processing the news.
Below, Billboard chats with Boygenius about their six nominations, their preparations for SNL, what it means to be nominated alongside rock greats like the Rolling Stones and the Foo Fighters, and why LGBTQ+ representation at the Grammys matters — but not nearly as much as LGBTQ+ rights.
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Before we even get into the Grammys of it all, how have SNL rehearsals with Timothée Chalamet been going so far?
Lucy Dacus: Pretty good, we have another one tonight.
Phoebe Bridgers: It’s scary, it’s like The Imp of the Perverse.
Julien Baker: Yeah, it’s all really live.
Bridgers: You’re like, “I could do something that people will see across the nation.” Well, actually, that’s guaranteed. But I could do something bad, like trying to drive your car into the median.
Well, congratulations on the Grammys nominations! How are each of you doing after finding out?
Baker: I was like, “If it happens, we’ll get one, maybe.” But no, we got six.
Dacus: Well, it’s seven if you count the sound engineering one [best engineered album, non-classical].
Bridgers: I mean, it’s not our names, but the people who helped make our collective Boygenius project. But yes, we are over-caffeinated, f—ed-up, and I’m gonna take a nap after this.
Baker: You know when you get so excited that you just have to go to sleep? It’s like when a fuse bursts and then there’s just no power. It’s a power surge, for sure.
You’re nominated for record and album of the year alongside artists like Taylor Swift, SZA and Olivia Rodrigo, while also being nominated in the rock categories with icons like The Rolling Stones and the Foo Fighters. What does being in that kind of company mean for the three of you?
Bridgers: Pretty dope. I think we’re gonna have to fight Dave Grohl in the parking lot.
Baker: Yo, we should do that. We should challenge him to beef.
Dacus: Hey, I’ve seen in-person how hard he hits the drums; I’m not gonna fight Dave Grohl. His arms are something else. Like, he’s got the muscle and he’s scrappy.
For Lucy and Julien, these are your first-ever nominations at the Grammys—
Baker: And last! [Laughs] No, this is a thing that is completely not able to be conceptualized. Like, this is a fake dream, almost. You’re like, “One day, I’m gonna hit the big time.” And then we play The Wiltern, and it’s like, “Okay, cool, that seems pretty good and achievable.” And then we got nominated for a Grammy, and I’m like, “That’s actually what people fake aspire to.”
Dacus: Yeah, I feel like I need a whole new bucket list.
Bridgers: It is pretty sick, to have a dream when you’re f—ing 15 that you achieve, and then you go, “What weird sh– can I do next?”
I also want to congratulate you three on leading the pack of LGBTQ+ nominees this year, alongside artists like Victoria Monét, Miley Cyrus and Brandy Clark. What does that mean for you, as a group, to see that level of representation in the nominations?
Baker: It’s cool, because when you’re saying “this class of people,” or “this demographic of folks” … it’s like, if there’s enough people that fit that category within the organization, it stops becoming a novelty.
Bridgers: Yeah, or even just as much of a commodity.
Baker: Exactly, it allows all of those people to be individuated more.
Dacus: It would be so sick if the way all queer people were treated got more normal too. Like, we have a friend that, during Pride Month, said, “It’s cool to see the rainbow on this Shell gas station sign. Why am I still getting looked at funny as a trans woman walking around?” Like, it’s cool that there’s more queer people getting nominated for Grammys, but it would also be super cool if more queer people had their full rights and were treated like people.
These nominations come after a huge year for Boygenius, between putting out the record and the massive tour you just wrapped up. Where do you feel these nominations rank among the other cool things you’ve gotten to do this year?
Dacus: Honestly? I don’t know yet because it just happened. [Laughs]
Bridgers: We haven’t fully processed, and Julien keeps pointing out that sh– keeps happening to us, where you are then confronted with each other or other people being like, “How sick is that?!” Like, I haven’t even had a single private thought about how sick this is yet.
Baker: Right, “Tell us how special this is!” And I’m sitting here like, “Dude, I don’t know!”
Bridgers: But it’s been really cool. We all got to FaceTime special people in our lives.
Baker: Yeah, we FaceTimed Catherine [Marks], our producer, and texted with people who worked on the record. I will say, that felt really nice, because it’s not just a momentary thing. All of the shows we’ve done always feel so sick in the moment, and I’m very much the one who’s like, “I’m just ready to play the gig.” But it’s cool to have so many people who are attached to the physical work, to the master we created, getting acknowledged.
Dacus: For sure, and I’d even say that, even when it’s something like a photo shoot that’s the three of us, we get sick of our own faces. But to have this event that overtly recognizes everyone behind the scenes — like with the engineering award the album was nominated for — that feels even more special.
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:
