Up & Coming LGBT Musicians
Sam Smith
Academy Award winner Sam Smith, with his voice, equal parts powerhouse belt and heartbreaking falsetto, is now ubiquitous on the radio. His album, In the Lonely Hour, is as relatable as it is critically acclaimed, and it is mostly about the experience of unrequited love. On coming out, Smith stated that he wanted to be clear on what his album was about. “It’s about a guy and that’s what I wanted people to know.” He is also completely aware of how important his success is to the public narrative, saying, “My aim is to tell people how good it’s been for me so that, hopefully, gay men or parents with gay children can look at my story and think, Wow, that’s how it should be. That’s what we can work towards. That’s been my whole motive — to not make it a talking point. My music should be a talking point.”
Le1f
Le1f got his start as a 17-year-old student at Wesleyan University, producing tracks for comedy hip-hop group Das Racist. In 2012, he successfully transitioned to a solo career with his huge hit “Wut.” The rapper is multitalented — his undergraduate degree in dance only helps make his shows vibrant, communal and fun as hell.
“I want people to dance at my shows … I want the music at first to be really, really exciting.” Initially, Le1f was cautious about speaking out too loudly about his identity in the largely queerphobic hip-hop community, but he’s embraced it fully in 2014. “Ask a gay question, here’s a black answer,” he raps on his 2014 EP Hey. He skillfully uses braggadocio, often an overtly masculine component of hip-hop, and subverts it: “New world order, LGBT cuties all over the world are diamonds and pearls.” Arty, provocative, and politically aware.
Thomas Neuwirth aka Conchita Wurst
Thomas Neuwirth, better known by her drag persona Conchita Wurst, had an amazing year. After appearances on assorted Austrian TV programs, Wurst was selected as the nation’s representative to the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, despite significant backlash against her gender nonconformity both within the country and throughout Europe. But Conchita’s rendition of “Rise Like a Phoenix” was so undeniably exceptional that she was crowned the winner. The song reached the top three iTunes downloads in 14 countries, including those that had most vehemently protested her participation. She exemplified how to use the celebrity platform for positive change by inviting fans to wear knitted beards in solidarity. She has since blown up as a European queer icon, headlining at least half a dozen pride events, and performing at the European Parliament as well as the United Nations Office in Vienna, where Secretary General Ban Ki-moon commended her. She has since become involved with the It Gets Better Project, an organization designed to use media figures like Wurst to let LGBT teens know they aren’t alone.
Sia
While “Chandelier” marks Australian artist Sia’s largest solo success to date, if you’ve been listening to the radio at all in the past few years, then you’re already familiar with her work. Sia has collaborated with dozens of the most popular artists, writing, among many other things, “Diamonds” by Rihanna and “Pretty Hurts” by Beyoncé. Sia is incredibly open about her fluid sexuality too, something refreshing for mainstream music. “Before I was actually successful I’d always said I’ve always dated boys and girls and anything in between. I don’t care what gender you are, it’s about people. I didn’t just recently open up, I just recently got famous! I’ve always been … well, flexible is the word I would use.”
Billy Gilman
In 2014 country star Ty Herndon came out. Billy Gilman, in an act of solidarity, came out a day later. “It’s difficult for me to make this video, not because I’m ashamed of being a gay male artist, or a gay artist or a gay person, but it’s pretty silly to know that I’m ashamed of doing this knowing that I’m in a genre and an industry that’s ashamed of me for being me,” Gilman said. Gilman was a country star at just 11 years old, with “One Voice,” a top 20 hit on the country Billboard charts.
Gilman released the romantic and celebratory “Say You Will” and hosted the American Music Guild’s Heritage Awards, where he won for Mainstream Artist of the Year. That kind of exposure and acceptance is a huge step for LGBT country music fans.
TEESatisfaction
Need more funky R&B/hip-hop in your life? You can thank this Seattle duo later. Stasia “Stas” Irons and singer Catherine “Cat” Harris-White met in college; it only took a few years for the pair to be signed by Sub Pop Records.
The duo bring together their own unique flavors to create one irresistible sound. “We definitely bring different genres and sounds,” Stas said in a 2012 interview. “I like a lot of gangsta rap from the 90s and that’s something that Cat didn’t really know about before we met. And then Cat brought in a lot of jazz – things like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald – and I wasn’t familiar with that, so we combined those two and that’s what our music sounds like!”
Andy Butler
In 2008, Andy Butler created Hercules and Love Affair, a dance music project with a rotating cast of musicians. Butler, who grew up in an abusive household, found solace in Greek mythology and club music. He became famous for “Blind,” a song performed with musician and friend Antony Hegarty, which won Pitchfork’s Best Song of 2008. “Blind” was about growing up a gay kid, my immediate family and social group rejecting me, and asking why I was born into this situation. But knowing that as soon as I could escape, I would, and that I would find freedom and solace. As an adult, however, I found a life full of excess and other wounded people and confusion. Thus, I felt blind,” he told the New York Times.
Big Dipper
Big Dipper is thick, hairy, and completely unashamed of his body. And why shouldn’t he be? With underground rap songs about the joys of sexual promiscuity, Big Dipper is the poster child for Baltimore Bear culture. Veering towards the silly instead of the expressive, Dipper’s ass-shaking production has made him a contemporary club kid icon.
The Riff Raff
If Johnny Cash and Amy Winehouse somehow made a baby, Bronx-born Puerto Rican front-woman Alynda Lee Segarra would be the result. The Riff Raff is a folk band that, as a whole, identifies as queer. Segarra constantly strives to change the way women are portrayed in traditional folk music. “Any way I can spread love amongst women, whether romantic or not, is important to me,” the singer-songwriter told BuzzFeed. “Pronouns are very fun to play with as a songwriter — there is a lot of weight in them. When I first started writing songs, I wanted to sing my love songs to women, whether they be my best friends or a character I created. I thought it was powerful for a woman to sing love to other women, and that isn’t about sex to me; it’s about respect and complications, about seeing these women as full human beings who are stunning in all of their ways and also painfully mysterious,” she said. The rest of the Riff Raff includes trans fiddler Yosi Perlstein, bassist Callie Millington, and drummer David Jamison, who collectively released the album Small Town Heroes at the beginning of this year.
Julia Weldon
Julia Weldon identifies as queer and “definitely not a lesbian folk singer.” All jokes aside, the New York-based singer-songwriter is brazenly open in her work. “I never hide that I’m writing about women in my songs and it feels good to be as honest as possible,” the singer told BuzzFeed. “I feel lucky I don’t feel the need to censor my song ideas through editing or omitting gendered pronouns.” The completely self-taught musician finds songwriting “vulnerable but really rewarding” work. “You know, I used to think I could only write when I was in a sad or dark place but it’s been interesting to work towards sharing new and even joyful parts of myself.”
Special thanks to BuzzFeed & Huffington Post Gay Voices for their contribution to this article
