After a long hiatus Gore returned to recording with her 2005 album Ever Since, described by Mayshark as a "cabaret cocktail of jazzy pop and spry ballads." Gore herself called it "another chapter [in her career]: reimagining a few old hits and bringing listeners along to new stuff." Evincing the influence of such heroes of hers as Nina Simone and Dinah Washington, the new album highlights Gore's mature--smoky and husky--voice and her unusually intelligent delivery.

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The album was produced by the independent label Engine Company Records and is being sold on Gore's web site. One of the cuts from it, the haunting ballad "Better Angels," was featured on a 2005 episode of the popular television show CSI: Miami.

Gore has not publicly named her partner but has acknowledged that she has been in a committed relationship with another woman since the early 1980s.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons have had tremendous influence on popular music, though some musical genres have been more receptive to a homosexual presence than others.

America's only nationally broadcast gay and lesbian newsmagazine, In the Life began in 1992 as a variety show, but has since evolved into an acclaimed public-affairs program.

Now widely acclaimed as one of the greatest voices of popular music, British rock star of the 1960s Dusty Springfield has long been a lesbian icon.

A director, writer, producer, and photographer, John Waters became well known in the early 1970s through his filmic collaboration with actor--and drag queen--Divine.