Pride

02 Jun 2023

Hayley Williams Has Stark Warning For Fans Who Support This Republican Presidential Candidate

As the 2024 presidential race starts to heat up with more than half a dozen republicans already throwing their hats in the ring to take on President Biden, Paramore singer Hayley Williams told New Jersey fans that she’s not afraid to get political from the stage.

In fact, the outspoken vocalist told the crowd at the Adjacent Music Festival in Atlantic City last weekend that if they’re supporting a particular candidate they can take a hike. “I’ll be happy to tell you I’m very f–king comfortable talking politics,” Williams said during Paramore’s headlining set to the screams of fans. “If you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re f–king dead to me. Is that comfortable enough for anyone?”

It should come as little surprise that Williams is not a fan of the Florida governor and self-proclaimed “anti-woke” warrior who earlier this year signed a series of discriminatory bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community that the Human Rights Campaign called “extreme.” Among them was the so-called “don’t say gay” bill that prohibits educators from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity from pre-K through eighth grade, as well as another bill severely restricting banning gender-affirming care and another that criminalized transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity.

Williams was among the participants at the March 20 Love Rising benefit in Nashville to support Tennessee-based LGBTQ organizations. “Once again our state has passed two regressive and unfathomably harmful bills,” Williams wrote on her Instagram Story in late February, after the Tennessee House passed legislation banning drag performances and gender-affirming care. “We stand in solidarity with our LGBTQIA+ family and local LGBTQIA+ orgs in this fight, not only for inclusion for our friends and family in the queer community, but for radical acceptance and empowerment for each of them.”

Tennessee native Williams doubled-down, saying that “drag is not a crime… gender-affirming healthcare for all, including our youth, is a necessity.”

Check out Williams’ comments below.

01 Jun 2023

New Little Richard PBS Doc Details Gay Origins of ‘Tutti Frutti’: ‘This Ain’t About Ice Cream’

Little Richard knew exactly what he was doing when he sang the seemingly gibberish lyrics “Awop-bop-a-loo-mop-alop-bam-boom/ If it don’t fit, don’t force it/ You can grease it and make it easy.” The iconic couplet he originally wrote for his 1955 breakthrough hit “Tutti Fruitti” is explored in a new episode of PBS’ American Masters, “Little Richard: King and Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” which will debut on public stations on Friday (June 2) at 9 p.m. ET as pat of LGBTQIA+ Pride Month and African American Music Appreciation Month.

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The show, which features interviews with the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Pat Boone, Ringo Starr, Bobby Rush and Big Freedia, as well as activist/drag performer Sir Lady Java and Richard’s spiritual advisor, Rev. Bill Minson, tells the origin story of Richard (born Richard Wayne Penniman) from a child prodigy steeped in the world of gospel to global rock stardom; it features never-before heard audio recordings of Richard made by his authorized biographer, Charles White, who is also featured.

In a Billboard exclusive clip from the show (see below), Little Richard’s bandmates and contemporaries talk about the origin story of “Tutti Frutti,” which was birthed at the raucous Dew Drop Inn in New Orleans. “When we went into the Drew Drop Inn there was a piano… and that’s when I began to know and understand Little Richard,” says Specialty Records producer Robert “Bumps” Blackwell.

“‘Cause that’s all you gotta do is give Richard an audience, turn the lights on and show is on,” Blackwell says. Richard’s longtime keyboard player and friend Ronald “Ron” Jones adds that one day Richard jumped on the piano and played the “alop-bam-boom” riff and his producers asked about the hook they’d never heard before, even though the singer — who died in May 2020 at age 87 of bone cancer — had been using it for years while playing to Black audiences on the Chitlin’ Circuit.

In the episode we hear archival tape of Richard reciting the next two lines in the chorus, “If you want it, you got it/ Tutti-frutti, good booty.” The lyrics, of course, could be interpreted as being about gay sex, laughs Deacon John Moore, a blues musician who recorded with Richard. “They’re not gonna play that on the radio. ‘Tutti-frutti, good booty!’ And everybody knew this ain’t about ice cream!”

The bottom line from Richard’s producer, though, was that regardless of what he was singing about, “Tutti Fruitti” sounded like a slam-dunk hit record. Informed that he would have to clean up the “smutty” lyrics a bit to get airplay, Richard agreed, with Blackwell explaining how they changed the first bit to “tutti frutti, oh rootie,” while adding girls named Sue and Daisy. After two or three takes, history was made.

The PBS doc follows on the heels of producer/director and former label exec Lisa Cortés’ recent doc, Little Richard: I Am Everything, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and has been streaming on Prime Video and Apple TV since April.

Watch the American Masters preview below and watch the full episode on Friday night.

01 Jun 2023

Sam Smith Kicks Off Pride Month With Stirring Cover of Christina Aguilera’s ‘Beautiful’: Listen

Pride Month has officially arrived, and pop superstar Sam Smith is ready to help you celebrate with a new cover.

On Thursday (June 1), Smith unveiled their cover of Christina Aguilera‘s 2002 anthem “Beautiful” exclusively on Amazon Music. Stripped down to focus on Smith’s sonorous vocal and a single guitar, the cover slowly grows, adding in strings and eventually a chorus of backing vocals to accentuate the powerful message at the song’s core: “We are beautiful no matter what they say/ Words won’t bring us down,” Smith belts on the final chorus.

In a statement released with the track, Smith praised Aguilera’s original performance and commented on the song’s heartfelt meaning. “I’ve been such a massive fan of Christina’s for as long as I can remember and will never forget the first time I heard ‘Beautiful’ and how personally it spoke to me,” they said. “The song is a true acceptance anthem and continues to inspire me with its important message to never stop celebrating who you are. I’m honored to have the opportunity to offer my rendition.”

It’s a fitting song for Smith to cover at the outset of Pride Month — Aguilera’s track, written by pop auteur Linda Perry, has long been considered a queer anthem. The music video for the song featured queer and trans people, which led to Aguilera winning a GLAAD Media Award in 2003 for promoting visibility for the LGBTQ community through her music.

The new cover is just one piece of Amazon Music’s latest Pride Month campaign. The streaming service also announced “Pride Hits Radio in DJ Mode,” hosted by Drag Race alum Mo Heart, which is set to feature “the most iconic Pride anthems interspersed with commentary from Mo Heart and interviews with LGBTQ+ artists including Sam Smith, Tove Lo and Big Freedia,” according to a press release.

Smith, meanwhile, has plenty to celebrate. Along with continuing their expansive world tour in support of their latest album, Gloria, the pop singer just announced their new single with Madonna titled “Vulgar,” which is due out on Friday, June 9.

Check out Smith’s new cover of “Beautiful” on Amazon Music below:

 

01 Jun 2023

Chappell Roan’s Love Letter to the LGBTQ Community

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, Chappell Roan recalls finding herself in the queer community and being able to finally tell herself “Thank God I’m gay.”

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To the community that saved me:

A love letter doesn’t seem near enough for you. Sitting down racking my brain, trying to shove love into a few paragraphs doesn’t do you justice. The appreciation doesn’t fit into my vocabulary. The best I can do is offer you my project, my songs, my tears, & my eternal love for queerness.

Growing up Christian, thinking being gay was a choice, cast a shell over my heart that could only be broken by your joy and grace towards my scared and confused 18 year old self who thought maybe liking girls wasn’t just a phase anymore. Leaving my religious community to start a new life in Los Angeles was rewarded by the queer community taking me under your wing and nursing me to a happiness I’ve never felt before.

“Thank God I’m gay” is a sentence I thought I’d never say, but it’s true. Thank God I love women. Thank God you taught me to accept myself, inspired me to dress loud, and and dance the way I have dreamt of since I was nine. Thank God you support me and I have the privilege to watch you from the stage radiating freedom and beaming with smiles. Thank God for drag performers. Thank God for strap-ons. Thank God for you.

With eternal love,
Chappell Roan

01 Jun 2023

Hope Tala’s Love Letter to the LGBTQ Community

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, Hope Tala rejoices in the queer community’s ability “to be endlessly varied, containing every kind of multitude,” even in a world “that increasingly feels like a dystopia.”

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The first time I can remember hearing the word ‘gay,’ I was eight or nine years old, playing in the sunshine the morning after a sleepover. I asked one of my friends what it meant and received a child’s definition — ‘when a boy kisses another boy’, whispered in my ear like it was something bad.

I was shocked; this concept was so far outside my understanding of how the world worked that it had never even occurred to me that it could happen in a way that wasn’t familial or platonic. I had never encountered anything that resisted the idea that a woman should be with a man so I didn’t consider that ‘gay’ could have anything to do with me until I was fourteen and began spending copious amounts of time trying desperately to locate that newly discovered part of myself externally.

Eleven years later, through the world’s progress (however insufficient it has been) and the intentional reconstruction of my own world, I’m now able to see and feel queerness everywhere. It was always there, of course, just not in my line of sight. The wonder of it still feels astonishing, the comfort immense.

In a world that increasingly feels like a dystopia where the political right is bent on destroying it, the queer community continues to be endlessly varied; powerful and vulnerable all at once, containing every kind of multitude. I am grateful to know queer people closely and from far away; to be inspired by them, to be able to live through the knowledge that they are thriving, laughing, crying, hurting, resisting, making food and mistakes and love and art absolutely everywhere. Now this thing that often felt like a source of fear and ostracization, separating me from the world I had always known, has brought me closer to the community I was always supposed to be a part of and the person I really want to be.

01 Jun 2023

Isaac Dunbar’s Love Letter to the LGBTQ Community

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, Isaac Dunbar breaks down a lifetime of being “inspired by queerness,” and offers a message of encouragement to his queer fans: “Don’t mind the commentary, and stand firm.”

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To the queer person reading this, you are everything.

First of all, you are loved. I want to encourage you — when you walk outside, be proud of what you wear. Be proud of how you walk and how you talk. Don’t mind the commentary, and stand firm. Your mere existence will cause an uproar on three sides. The side that is against you, and the side that supports you.

There is another side, though … the ones that want to embark on a journey like yours. A walk of life encompassing bravery and boldness. It’s so easy to focus on the negative, but I want to show you the positivity that follows you being yourself.

My whole life, I have been inspired by queerness [while] growing up in an environment where it was not accepted. In this age of information, we are able to tell our stories in a widespread way. I personally have found comfort in niche communities on the internet in regard to my queerness. So, to whoever you are, reading this wherever you are, I want these words to bring you comfort and peace: You will find your chosen family if need be. I thought I never would.

Again, don’t mind the commentary.

31 May 2023

Sam Smith & Madonna Are Getting ‘Vulgar’ With Their New Single

After giving the world a taste of the “Unholy,” Sam Smith is ready to deliver something even dirtier with their new song — and this time, they’ve got pop icon Madonna on board to help.

On Wednesday (May 31), Smith and Madonna confirmed the release of their upcoming collaboration, “Vulgar.” Madge shared some artwork across her social media, showing a pair of tightly cinched black-and-white corsets underneath the duo’s initials — which were cheekily shortened to a simple “S&M.” “VULGAR…………. new song out Friday June 9th @samsmith,” Madonna captioned the post.

The announcement comes after about a week’s worth of buildup. On May 24, Smith teased that a collaboration with the “Like a Prayer” singer was on its way, sharing a looping audio clip across their social media accounts in which the pair groaned “Sam and Madonna.”

It then appeared that Smith was going to give their fans in Manchester a sneak preview of the new song during their show on May 24. Smith tweeted an image in the same style as their “Sam and Madonna” teaser, saying that “‘Unholy’ won’t be the last song” at their stop. However, fans never got to find out what the last song would have been, since Smith was forced to abruptly end the concert due to vocal issues.

Meanwhile, Madonna has been hard at work preparing for her upcoming Celebration Tour, a globe-spanning production looking back on four decades of hit songs from the pop icon. Set to kick off in Vancouver this July, the tour will also feature RuPaul’s Drag Race season eight winner Bob the Drag Queen as a special guest for each new show.

“Vulgar” is out everywhere Friday, June 9. Check out the official announcement below:

30 May 2023

Sam Smith Has a New Collaboration Coming With Anitta: ‘We Connected Immediately’

Sam Smith may have declared that “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” — but that doesn’t mean they can’t work with rising Latin superstar Anitta.

In a new cover story on Anitta for Harper’s Bazaar, Smith confirmed that the pair are working on a new song together. “Anitta’s energy is amazing,” they said. “We connected immediately, and it just made the collaboration feel so special that there was genuine friendship there.” Smith went on to praise Anitta’s “clear vision” as an artist, while the outlet described the upcoming song as a “lusty duet” between the pair.

Commenting on her upcoming new music, Anitta added that she planned to use her crossover success in pop music to make songs that more directly represent her as a person. “I got big enough for people to pay attention to what I’m doing, so it’s a good moment for me to drop this album [that’s] finally something I believe and something I think, ‘OK, that is me,’ ” she said. “Now that I got this attention, I can really be myself.”

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Anitta is not the only artist that Smith will be collaborating with. In a mysterious tweet last week, the “Unholy” singer teased an audio clip that simply stated the words “Sam and Madonna,” leaving fans to wonder what the pair of pop stars were planning something together.

Meanwhile, Anitta also opened up to Harper’s Bazaar about her goals following her recent split with Warner Music after tweeting that she would have “auctioned off her organs” to get out of her contract. “I want to build a whole strategy because I don’t want to leave that in my label’s hands,” she said of her forthcoming album, which will be released under her new deal with Republic Records. “All the others I was leaving at their hands. That’s why it didn’t go that well … But this I want to go massive. So I’m going to do it myself.”

26 May 2023

Queer Jams of the Week: New Music From Arlo Parks, Demi Lovato, Hayley Kiyoko & More

With Pride less than a week away, freshen up your playlists with some 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.

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From Arlo Parks’ long-awaited new album, to Demi Lovato’s rocked-out version of a fab-favorite track, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:

Arlo Parks, My Soft Machine

For all of the talk of your 20s being “the best years of your life,”rising alternative star Arlo Parks has a slightly different take. With My Soft Machine, her sophomore album, the UK artist floats between existential dread over the ending of relationships (“Weightless,” “I’m Sorry”) and introspective musings on self-worth (“Impurities,” “Devotion”), all done with an eclectic blend of dream-pop and rock to form a singularly fascinating project. It’s a further testament to Parks’ inimitable talent and vision that My Soft Machine stands firmly as a distinctive, moving body of work, even in the wake of an album as lauded as Collapsed in Sunbeams.

Demi Lovato, “Cool for the Summer (Rock Version)”

After reimagining her much-beloved song “Heart Attack” as a rock anthem earlier this year, Demi Lovato is ready to give you more. This time around, they’re taking their warm-weather ditty “Cool for the Summer” and amping up the intensity. With raging guitars, pounding drums and an all new set of vocal tracks, the song is radically transformed into an edgy, gritty pop-punk single worthy of Lovato’s latest musical era.

Hayley Kiyoko, “Greenlight”

Hayley Kiyoko is tired of waiting for permission to live her life — so she’s giving herself the “Greenlight” on her latest single. Co-written with pop luminary Jesse St. John, the new track from Lesbian Jesus keeps her streak of life-affirming pop singles alive, playing with delicious falsetto while accompanied by stacked synths and a steady bass line. Be warned, though; once you press play, you’ll “wanna keep goin’ and goin’,” as Kiyoko says.

Towa Bird, “Boomerang”

Living in a long distance relationship is maddening, as rising singer-guitarist Towa Bird can attest. On her latest single “Boomerang,” Bird agonizes about the “separation anxiety” of being in L.A. with a girlfriend in New York — sure, she knows she’ll see her soon, but that doesn’t make the time in between any easier. Punctuated with some excellent garage-rock sounds, and you’ve got a theme song for the frustration of loving long distance on your hands.

Miya Folick, Roach

To say that Miya Folick’s new album Roach is about any one thing in particular is to largely miss the point of its construction. With this wide-ranging, often-chaotic sophmore album, the alt-pop singer instead takes a scattershot approach when it comes to subject matter — whether that’s serene self-reflection (“So Clear,”) bitter anger (“Cockroach”) or familial dynamics (“Mommy”). The most consistent thing about this extensive project is the top-tier quality, keeping you invested for the entirety of its 42-minute runtime.

Cat Burns, “You Don’t Love Me Anymore”

There are a plethora of reasons why a relationship might end — Cat Burns is simply asking her ex to give her one. On “You Don’t Love Me Anymore,” the UK up-and-comer begs her former lover to “list all my baggage,” or “drag my ego to the floor” rather than use the song’s dreaded title when describing why their relationship has to end. It’s a heartbreaking song made even more gutwrenching by how endlessly relatable it is.

Royal & the Serpent, “One Nation Underdogs”

If you’re planning on protesting the seemingly endless onslaught of anti-LGBTQ bills being proposed around the country this Pride Month, then Royal & the Serpent has just the song to soundtrack your demonstration. “One Nation Underdogs” speaks directly to our current dark moment in history, throwing a defiant middle finger in the face of right-wing politicians, offering this grinning kiss-off in response to their attacks: “There’s more of us and less of you/ We’re the future where you fell off.”

Jeffrey Eli, “Sleeping Beauty”

If you somehow haven’t heard Jeffrey Eli’s haunting voice on TikTok, now is the time to remedy that situation. With his latest release “Sleeping Beauty,” Eli claims his space and plays with the fluidity of his ridiculous range to drive home a point. Examining his own childhood, Eli deconstructs the gender binary right before our eyes — and the moment he’s done so, you’ll realize that the music followed perfectly along the journey, building into a glorious explosion of sound. Seriously, if you haven’t listened to Jeffrey Eli, stop reading this and go listen.

Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:

26 May 2023

Lil Nas X Mocks Conservative Outrage Over Target’s Pride Month Merch: ‘I’m Never Shopping There Again’

Leave it to Lil Nas X to find the most hilarious way to smack down the conservative freakout over Target’s Pride Month products. Days after the mega-retailer removed or moved some Pride merch following backlash from conservative activists and media — which reportedly included some threats against the safety of its workers — the “That’s What I Want” rapper clowned the criticism with a hysterical tweet of his own parodying the tempest in aisle 20.

“Can’t believe target is supporting this nonsense, im never shopping there again, my son is not ‘too cool for school’ these shirts are ridiculous,” Lil Nas joked in a post that did not specifically mention the backlash, but instead alluded to it using the his signature arch comedic voice. “He is going to school and he WILL learn.”

In the midst of a wave of conservative legislation targeting the LGBTQ community — from bills restricting attendance at drag shows to laws banning gender-affirming treatment for transgender minors and adults — Target became the latest business to come under scrutiny after outrage from right-wing media over some of its pride products. According to NBC News, some Target customers posted TikTok videos showing Target Pride merch displays that had been moved to less visible locations, including in the back of some stores.

On Tuesday (May 23), a Target spokesperson told NBC News the company had “offered an assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month” for more than a decade. But since rolling out this year’s collection, “we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work.”

“Given these volatile circumstances,” the spokesperson added, “we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior. Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.”

After Target rolled out some of this year’s products for June’s Pride Month — which includes rainbow tops, tees that read “Trans People Will Always Exist” and more — it reportedly began to get pushback on items from the LGBTQ brand Abprallen, which offers items featuring “spooky, gothic imagery, such as skulls and Satan, in pastel colors.” The AP reported that among the items conservatives were outraged about was a “tuck-friendly” women’s swimsuit that allows adult trans women to hide their genitalia.

One tweet showed a man tossing a Pride display to the ground and stomping on it. Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson reacted to the latest culture war firestorm with a tweet featuring a dire warning: “Extremist groups want to divide us and ultimately don’t just want rainbow products to disappear, they want us to disappear.”

In April, transgender actor-activist Dylan Mulvaney reacted to a Fox News story over Bud Light sending one-off, not-for-sale commemorative cans to Mulvaney that spurred musicians Kid Rock, Travis Tritt and John Rich to swear off the popular brew.

“I think it’s OK to be frustrated with someone or confused, but what I’m struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel. I just, I don’t think that’s right. Dehumanization has never fixed anything in history, ever,” said Mulvaney, 26, in a video to her 13 million followers. After describing her childhood in a conservative family and in the church, Mulvaney said she still had faith, but that it’s been a struggle to hold on to it in the midst of attacks that reminded her of similar criticism she faced as a child for being “too feminine.”

“Now I’m being called all those same things, but this time it’s from other adults,” she said. “And if they’re going to accuse me of anything, it should be that I’m a theater person and that I’m camp. But this is just my personality and it always has been.”

See Lil Nas’ tweet mocking outrage over Target’s Pride Month products below.