State Champ Radio Pride
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The LGBTQ community has a long history of influencing music history for the better — be it through the creation of whole genres, the success of mainstream queer artists or otherwise. Now, Spotify wants to help amplify that influence.
On Tuesday (Jan. 24), the streaming service debuted their latest music program, GLOW. The project — much like fellow equity global music programs EQUAL and Frequency for female and Black creators, respectively — is specifically catered to LGBTQ artists, aiming to “elevate LGBTQIA+ creators, both on and off platform,” according to Spotify.
To fulfill that goal, GLOW will have a year-round hub on the platform housing LGBTQ-dedicated playlists for fans to discover new music from queer-identifying artists, with new playlists set to be introduced each month. One of these playlists is a global flagship playlist of the same name, featuring LGBTQ voices from around the world and refreshing each month with new offerings.
As with previous equity programs at Spotify, GLOW will also benefit from a “360 program,” which will provide opportunities for editiorial and marketing partnerships with other major brands as well as providing charitable giving to organizations benefiting LGBTQ arts causes, including QORDS, Black Trans Femmes in the Arts (The BTFA Collective), It Gets Better and more.
GLOW will additionally shine a spotlight on different LGBTQ artists every month, with 11 — including Sam Smith, Arlo Parks, Tove Lo and Pabllo Vittar — showcased at launch. Future spotlight artists will be featured on Spotify’s For the Record editorial channel as well as on a Times Square billboard.
Cahleb Derry, an associate manager of music marketing at Spotify, said in a statement that the aim of GLOW was to provide needed support for a community that often doesn’t receive it. “The question we go back to is, ‘How do we tangibly influence the resources that LGBTQIA+ artists have?’” he said. “We know that a lot of artists only get hit up in June during Pride to do campaigns. And then July 1 hits and there’s no work to be found again … we, at Spotify, have a responsibility as the largest music audio platform in the world to fill in these gaps.”
The GLOW launch is a bright spot that comes amid Spotify’s announcement on Monday that they would be cutting 6% of their global workforce and that chief content & advertising business officer Dawn Ostroff would be departing her role. “I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us,” Daniel Ek said in a note to employees posted on the company’s website. “In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth.”
Check out the official GLOW Spotify hub here.
Time flies when you’re having fun — and for the last two years, JoJo Siwa has been having the time of her life.
On Sunday, Siwa posted on Instagram to celebrate the two-year anniversary of her public coming out announcement back in 2021. Sharing the same photo she shared two years ago, Siwa wrote a short-but-sweet caption to commemorate the moment.
“2 years ago today,” she said next to a series of rainbow-colored heart emojis. “now looking back on everything…. I’m SO proud of 17 year old JoJo.”
Siwa officially came out on Jan. 22, 2021, when she posted a photo of herself with the caption, “My cousin got me a new shirt.” The picture shows Siwa smiling and looking down at the tee, which said in blue block letters, “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.”
In the time since then, Siwa has used her platform to try and elevate LGBTQ voices and stand up for her community. Most recently, the former Nickelodeon star called out Fuller House star Candace Cameron Bure for saying that she would not feature same-sex couples in movies she produces at the Great American Family Network.
Speaking to People, Siwa explained why she called Bure out for her “rude and hurtful” comments. “You not liking gay marriage, do your thing girl. You being religious, do your thing girl. Of course, I would want everybody to do what they want to do,” she said. “But to purposely exclude someone because of who they love, that’s sh–ty.”
Check out Siwa’s anniversary post on Instagram below:
It’s been over two weeks since Kevin McCarthy was (finally) elected speaker of the house after the longest contest to a speaker election in more than 150 years — and Internet sensation Randy Rainbow isn’t quite ready to move on from that bit of news.
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On Monday (Jan. 23), Rainbow posted his latest parody video “Speaker of the House,” in which the star lampoons the embattled GOP leader for his repeated failures to get elected — and the concessions he had to make to finally get the job done.
Starting off as many of Rainbow’s parodies do, the video opens with Rainbow conducting a fake interview with the leader, introducing him as “barely elected Speaker of the House, Kevin McF—head.” As the comedian begins to simultaneously question and roast McCarthy (including drinking from a mug with a piece of paper reading “you’re a dumba–” taped to it), the music begins to kick in, leading us to another song from the viral star.
Performing to the tune of “Master of the House” from the seminal Broadway musical Les Miserables, Rainbow holds nothing back when referring to McCarthy as a “slimy, climby man-boy” and a “power-hungry whore,” while making sure to rub the politician’s nose in his recent pyrrhic victory. “Speaker of the house/ Cunning little chap/ Covetous, conservative and full of crap,” he sings. “Thirsty as a fish/ Quick to compromise/ Only took the motherf—er 15 tries.”
But Rainbow’s barbs are not only reserved for McCarthy — the singer also takes time to go after some of McCarthy’s opponents, his allies and other much-discussed members of the GOP. “[Lauren] Boebert doesn’t even know what state she’s from/ Marjorie [Taylor Green]’s a mess/ Matt [Gaetz]’s a ticking bomb/ [George] Santos says he’s Ariana Grande’s mom,” he sings.
Finally bringing the song to its exacerbated conclusion, Rainbow delivers a final “toast” to McCarthy: “Girl, I give you one more week/ Everybody lift a cheek to the speaker of the house.”
The video comes just ahead of the 2023 Grammy Awards on Feb. 5, where Rainbow’s debut studio album A Little Brains, A Little Talent is nominated for best comedy album against huge competitors like Dave Chappelle, Patton Oswalt, Jim Gaffigan and Louis C.K.
Check out Randy Rainbow’s full video for “Speaker of the House” above.
RuPaul’s Drag Race has always prided itself on a good old-fashioned twist — but even the most prepared of queens couldn’t have predicted the latest surprise on the show,
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On last week’s episode (aired Friday, Jan. 20), the 14 remaining queens got the shock of their lives when RuPaul announced that they would be performing in the Snatch Game — a challenge usually reserved for when there are many fewer queens left. Splitting the faux game show in two, the show tested all of the girls on their comedy and impersonation chops with the iconic challenge a mere four episodes into the season.
Some girls managed to thrive — Loosey LaDuca (who had grown hungrier than ever for her first win) pulled out all of the stops for her spot-on Joan Rivers, cracking Ru and the judges up at every opportunity and winning the challenge. Mistress Isabelle Brooks and Marcia Marcia Marcia similarly slayed their gut-busting impressions of Rosie O’Donnell and Tim Gunn, respectively.
Sugar and Spice, however, had some difficulties. Both of the twins struggled in their Snatch Game performances; Sugar couldn’t nail down any jokes or even mild cracks as professional internet troll Trisha Paytas, while Spice made her Miley Cyrus a cartoonish country bumpkin hitting herself on the head with a sledgehammer.
Facing off against one another in the Lip Sync for Your Life, Sugar and Spice instead decided to make it a “twin-sync” as they called it, working together to make on cohesive number to Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run.” Yet, with Sugar tripping around both the words and her own feet throughout the performance, Ru announced that the sweeter of the twins would be leaving the competition.
Billboard caught up with Sugar following her elimination, where she talked about finding her voice on reality television, her time playing Paytas in the Snatch Game, and why she loves that she had a “Farrah Moan moment” on national television.
Sugar, how are you feeling after watching these first few episodes?
I’m feeling — I hate to be Miss America, but I am feeling so much gratitude. You sit on this for so long, and it’s not that I’m surprised, but I think when me and Spice got back from filming and were all done … we were on TikTok, we had our fans, but the Drag Race fandom had their preconceived notions about me and Spice, typically. I don’t think they knew how to perceive us. So to get the response we got, which was so much love, and for people to understand me as a drag artist and as myself, was such a blessing.
As you mentioned, you and Spice have a huge TikTok presence — what was the biggest adjustment you found yourself having to make going from TikTok to reality TV?
I felt like a doll stepping out of the box — this was my Life Size, honestly. I felt like I was stepping into the real world.
In this scenario, you’re Tyra Banks, yes?
Of course. I know people say what they want about her, but she has inspired me so much. My biggest takeaway from her has been that she redefined what it meant to be a model, and people were like, “Oh, you’re just this, stand still, look pretty.” And she built a whole empire.
But going to the competition, I was used to standing still and looking pretty on TikTok. I didn’t have to glue down wigs, I could just be my little creative artist self from the comfort of my own home. It was definitely an adjustment, but one I was very ready for.
In the episode before this, you and Jax had your little tiff, which has since been squashed. But you resolved at the top of this episode to stop caring what the other competitors thought of you — how present was that struggle with perception for you?
Yeah, I’m really grateful for that moment, because I think it’s such … a relatable human experience where you enter a situation — maybe you’re around friends, or co-workers, or wherever — and you feel like you have to step back. That thought entered my mind, “If I dim my light, people will like me better.” And that should never be the case! We should never dim our light for anyone! I definitely felt like I had to do that. I kept thinking, “Let me hold back.” There’s power in restraining yourself, but then there’s also power in letting your light shine. You gotta own who you are, that will get you way further in life. I’m still working on it, it’s a journey!
That brings us to the Snatch Game — you said in your confessional that there is an understanding that playing internet celebrities is not the best idea for this challenge. What made you decide to do Trisha Paytas anyways?
Looking back, I am like, “Why was I so convicted to do Trisha?” But she means a lot to mean — she was my comfort in high school, and she’s inspired a lot in my drag character. I just felt like … it was in the cards for me to do it. Now, maybe that was my demise, but I wasn’t doing anything to be liked in that moment, you know what I mean? I was doing what was going to make me the most happy. So, yeah, I was taking a risk with Ru not knowing who Trisha was and not understanding the crazy, troll personality. But at the end of the day, we’re all living for ourselves, so I’m happy I went out having the most fun I could.
Was there a backup character you were considering outside of Trisha?
Actually, yes, I did. It was Christina Aguilera — it would’ve been a full thing of me just going [*does an Xtina-esque vocal run*]. Just singing the whole time, but I guess we’ll just have to save that for a later date.
The thing I hope audiences understand is how hard Snatch Game really is — it’s improv and comedy and impersonation for a long time. In the moment, did it feel difficult when you were performing Snatch Game? Could you tell things were not going your way?
You know what it was? I haven’t seen the episode yet, so I don’t know how they edited the Snatch Game — but the irony is I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever felt. I was having the time of my life! I put on that breastplate and you could not tell me that I wasn’t Trisha Paytas. Something came over me, I swear I thought I was her in that moment — I was trolling, I was coming for Ru and asking what his body count was, and just having the time of my life. I feel like I’m the wrong person to ask about it being hard, and honestly, maybe that’s why I went home, because I was just living my fantasy.
Well, before you got sent home, you had the “twin-sync” as you two called it.
“Twin-sync,” yes, they kept it in! I’m happy, good.
This is maybe the first time we’ve seen two queens … work together in a lip sync for your life? What was going on here, what was your plan with Spice going into this?
[Laughs.] Girl, I blacked out after that performance. All I remember is I fell, a shoe came off, like it was wild.
We were too busy crying our eyes out in Untucked, and then we had like 10 minutes left before the main stage. So we were like, “Oh, we gotta come up with something.” I didn’t listen to the lip sync song, I didn’t know the words, because my delusional ass was like “I was giving in Snatch Game.” At that point, I basically knew I was going home from the critiques, so I was like, “Well, let’s go out with a bang.” I guess the success of that is to be decided by everyone else.
As you mentioned, there were a few stumbles that happened for you — walk me through what was going through your mind when you tripped.
I fully manifested that moment when we were doing the group numbers with the girls. First of all, I’m all about the height — I’m always needing more inches with my heels. So in that first challenge, the girls were like, “Babe, you’re gonna fall on the stage in those, you do not want your Farrah Moan moment.” And I was like, “Oh no, baby — I want the Farrah Moan moment.” Like, I’m the viral TikTok person; I want to fall on my face, because the meme possibilities will be endless. And sure enough, it happened.
I feel like, with the twins lip syncing, we had to make that as iconic as humanly possible. What makes a good lip sync? Someone falling; messiness; not knowing the words — we have all of the elements right there.
Has the weather got you feeling a little chilly? Let us help you warm up with some new tunes 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 Boygenius’s surprise return to Arlo Parks’ stunning new single, check out just a few of our favorite releases from this week below:
Boygenius, “$20,” “Emily I’m Sorry” & “True Blue”
When fans saw that Boygenius — a queer indie supergroup made up by Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker — would be a featured act at this year’s Coachella, whispers of a new album began materializing on social media. But nothing could have prepared fans for the release of three new singles, alongside an album announcement from the trio. Ahead of the long-awaited new set The Record, Boygenius returned with a Baker-led soft-punk anthem of resilience (“$20”), a Bridgers-led lovelorn apology to an ex (“Emily, I’m Sorry”), and a Dacus-led coming of age ballad (“True Blue”). Providing something for everyone with the promise of more to come, Boygenius made sure that their comeback was as triumphant as fans could’ve hoped.
Arlo Parks, “Weightless”
Ever since the release of Arlo Parks’ critically-lauded debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams, fans of the U.K. indie singer-songwriter have been waiting with bated breath for what comes next. This week, the singer delivered — alongside the announcement of the sophomore album My Soft Machine, Parks unveiled “Weightless,” a hypnotic, instantly thrilling new single off the project. Fans of Parks’ top-tier songwriting will be delighted to find it has only sharpened in the two years since Sunbeams; anyone eager to hear her sonic evolution will find themselves delightfully surprised by this chillwave, synth-pop dreamscape the singer has crafted around her. Put those together, and you have a song that magnificently reintroduces a must-listen artist to the world.
Kim Petras, “Brrr”
Time to dance, queers. Kim Petras is back at it again with “Brrr,” a hyperpop-infused pop track that sees Kim hopping back into the driver’s seat and begging her lover to prove why he thinks he’s “so cold.” With clattering production work from rising superstar ILYA, Petras sounds as good as fans would have hoped as she sings “You should pull me up closer/ Turn the heat up in your Rover/ Why don’t you take it out on me?”
Sam Smith, “Gloria”
With every new release off of their forthcoming album, Sam Smith has been giving fans a little taste of something new. With the album’s title song “Gloria,” Smith ditches the sweaty, club-ready jams that have come out of their last two singles, instead going for something soft and sweet. Joined by a full choir, this chorale of self-confidence sounds less like a pop song and more like a religious hymn to yourself, as Smith and their fellow voices resolve to “be yourself so loud tonight, they’ll hear you from the stars.” Glory to “Gloria.”
Kelela, “Contact”
With Kelela’s long-awaited new album Raven due out in a few short weeks, she wants to make sure that you’re ready for what’s coming. “Contact,” the latest single off the new project, simultaneously manages to hypnotize and fire up the listener all at once, as the pounding club beat plays perfectly off of Kelela’s sultry vocals. Things heat up quickly, as the songstress makes her intentions perfectly clear: “I’m floatin’ away, far and away/ You tryna stall and delay, but I wanna play.”
Mazie, “It’s Not Me (It’s U)”
There’s nothing worse than hearing your partner reach for the cop out when they try and end things, saying, “honestly, it’s not you! It’s me!” Turns out indie pop singer Mazie is sick of hearing it, too — on “It’s Not Me (It’s U),” the psychedelic singer dips even further into her hazy bedroom pop sound to tell her lover exactly where they can shove their fake humility. If you’re feeling a little bitter and need a song that’ll validate your anger, look no further.
Cub Sport, “Keep Me Safe”
Cub Sport has always thrived when it comes to front-facing, emotionally resonant indie pop songs. So it’s no surprise that their latest single, “Keep Me Safe,” is exactly what you want to hear from them and more. This tender, gorgeous love song immediately takes hold of your feelings with the opening chords, as a distorted voice sings about driving forever. By the time lead vocalist Tim Nelson comes in with a stirring story of forbidden romance, you’re already caught up in the song’s sonic web — and by the time it’s over, you’ll be reaching for the replay button.
Khai Dreams, “Panic Attack”
There’s something idiosyncratic about writing a song called “Panic Attack” and making it sound as calm and collected as Khai Dreams’ new single does — or at least that’s what you might think for the first few moments of the track. But as this delectable new single keeps chugging along, the production and the lyrics slowly pick up the pace, before eventually you find yourself in a chaotic chorus about bad dreams, irrational fears and intrusive thoughts — and you’re feeling exactly what Khai is talking about. “Panic Attack” won’t simulate the experience of a real-life bout with anxiety, but it will give you a fun and catchy insight into what’s flooding someone’s mind while it’s happening.
Check out all of our picks on Billboard’s Queer Jams of the Week playlist below:
Throughout the storied history of RuPaul’s Drag Race, many mini and maxi challenges have come and gone. Between queens making puppets and variety/talent shows, there are few challenges that have remained essentially the same since their inception … except for the Snatch Game.
Since its debut back in season 2, Snatch Game — Drag Race‘s celebrity impersonation challenge lampooning the classic game show Match Game — has become one of the most beloved challenges on the show. Usually seen as a turning point in the competition, Snatch Game is one of the few challenges every queen can expect to see in their time on the show.
Now, only four episodes into its run, season 15 is launching its 14 remaining contestants into the iconic competition. On Friday’s new episode (Jan. 20), the queens will be split into two groups to face-off with their celebrity impressions, all aiming for the same goal — to make RuPaul laugh.
Along with being one of Drag Race’s most iconic challenges, Snatch Game is also one of the most difficult. Speaking to Billboard, two-time Snatch Game winner Jinkx Monsoon explained that the challenge is more than meets the eye. “Snatch Game is very hard,” she said. “It feels like it’s a test of your impersonation skills, but it’s simultaneously a test of your comedic skills and improv skills.”
With the challenge’s history of providing plenty of hilarious (and cringe-worthy) portrayals of iconic musical artists, Billboard decided to look back on every Snatch Game in the show’s herstory and rank each musical impersonation. From the Great Beyoncé Curse to spot-on performances as Adele, Cher and Britney Spears, check out all of our findings below.
In 1910’s The Vagabond, the French writer Colette claimed, “The only real things are the dance, the light, freedom, music.” If that’s the case, then there are few pop catalogs more in touch with reality than Madonna’s.
The Queen of Pop kicked 2023 off right by announcing the Celebration Tour, a global trek honoring her four decades of culture-changing hits.
Needless to say, she has a lot of material to choose from — with 12 No. 1s, 38 top 10 hits and 57 titles on the Billboard Hot 100, Madonna is an all-time pop GOAT. And considering her most recent tour (the excellent, intimate Madame X Tour from 2019-2020) was primarily focused on the album of the same name she was supporting, there’s quite a number of beloved classics that Madge hasn’t performed live in several years.
That seems set to change with the Celebration Tour, which promises to be a career-retrospective run of songs from the pop icon, whose self-titled debut introduced the world to a new game-changing superstar back in 1983. And since we’re looking at 40 years of Madonna, we decided to round up 40 songs we would love to hear the Material Goddess perform live.
Now, we’re not saying we want every one of these songs performed in full at every tour stop — a 40-song setlist is less a concert and more of a marathon. Some we’d like to hear in part, perhaps as a segue or in a medley; others we could imagine M performing as a surprise treat on select tour dates. But this is our wish list.
The White Lotus star Theo James joined Watch What Happens Live last week, where he expressed interest in playing George Michael if a biopic were ever in the works.
“Oh yeah, I would love that, he’s an icon,” he said. “He’s a lot of Greek, and I’m a lot of Greek. Put that Greek together, and you get falafel.”
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However, when The Advocate shared the news to Instagram, Adam Lambert criticized the thought. “Yay another straight man playing a gay icon,” the singer commented, along with an eye roll emoji. The comment was seemingly in reference to other biopics about gay stars played by straight men, such as Rami Malek playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody and Taron Egerton playing Elton John in Rocketman.
However, despite reports of a biopic surrounding the late Wham! frontman, the George Michael estate put to rumors to rest in a statement. “To all of George’s Lovelies, fans and lovers of his music, a story has been published stating that George Michael’s family has endorsed a so called ‘biopic’ about his life,” read the note from George Michael Entertainment. “On behalf of George’s family and GME we want to make it clear that there is no truth whatsoever in this story, we know nothing about this project and will not be endorsing it in any way.”
Jonathan Knight looked back on his coming out journey in a new conversation with Lance Bass on Monday (Jan 16).
Speaking on the latest episode of the *NSYNC member’s podcast, Lance Bass Presents: Frosted Tips, the New Kids on the Block singer explained that his manager knew he was gay at the time, but instructed him to stay closeted for the sake of the boy band. “He pulled me aside and was like, ‘If anybody finds out, your career is over. The New Kids’ career is over. My career is over,’” he recalled. “It was just so much pressure.
“Looking back, that was a lot of pressure to put on somebody who’s just trying to figure out the world themselves,” the ’80s heartthrob went on. “As it went along, the stress built up and built up and built up.”
Ultimately, Knight was forced out of the closet in 2009 after a former boyfriend sold photos of himself with the star to The National Enquirer. At the time, he felt forced to address his identity publicly, saying, “I didn’t want to. I was just living my life … it wasn’t something I was hiding. But then it was like, ‘No, you have to make a statement. You have to clear the air.’ And that whole process was horrible.”
During his chat with Bass and guest co-host Joey Fatone, Knight also shared his struggle to have kids with husband Harley Rodriguez, revealing that the couple spent five years trying to start a family. “It just didn’t happen for us,” he told his fellow boy banders. “Going through the process, like, ‘Today’s the day the eggs are being [transferred], you’re so excited, and you’re so happy. And then, you know, a week later it’s like, ‘No, you’re back to square one.’”
Listen to Knight’s full interview on Lance Bass Presents: Frosted Tips below.
After breaking through to mainstream success in 2021, UK indie star Arlo Parks is ready to follow through with her new project.
On Wednesday (Jan. 18), Parks officially announced the impending release of her sophomore studio album My Soft Machine. Due out May 26 via Transgressive Records, the new LP promises to be a more expansive look at Parks’ life, with songs dedicated to both telling the truth of her lived experience while coloring them through her own artistic expression.
“This record is life through my lens, through my body,” Parks said in a statement regarding My Soft Machine. “The mid-20s anxiety, the substance abuse of friends around me, the viscera of being in love for the first time, navigating PTSD and grief and self sabotage and joy, moving through worlds with wonder and sensitivity — what it’s like to be trapped in this particular body.”
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To celebrate the announcement, Parks is also giving fans a taste of what’s to come with the album’s first single. “Weightless” stands out immediately from Parks’ slowed down, groove-focused tracks of the past — outfitted with a frenetic beat and heavy-synth production, the track marks a new sonic direction for the star while keeping her lyrical acuity intact. “You crush under the pressure/ But you won’t change, no, you won’t change,” she croons on the track’s pre-chorus. “I don’t wanna wait for you.”
The new album follow’s Parks’ debut LP, 2021’s Collapsed in Sunbeams. Following critical raves for her album, Parks ended up earning two Grammy nominations — Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album — for her work on the project, while also winning best new artist at the Brit Awards and the Mercury Prize in the UK.
Pre-order My Soft Machine here and watch the official video for “Weightless” above.
