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Pansy
Division |
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 k. d. lang
(b. 1961)
has enjoyed spectacular success as a musician. She is an anomaly in the music world
both because she is a lesbian and because she refuses to confine herself within a specific
genre. |
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Little Richard
(b. 1932) is a
legendary figure in popular music. Torn between his sternly religious
upbringing and his homosexuality, he denounced his rock and roll
lifestyle at the height of his career. |
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Freddie Mercury
(1946-1991)
was the front man of one of the world's most popular rock groups,
Queen. That he was able to maintain this status in spite of critical
hostility, his flamboyant androgyny, and questions about his
sexuality is one of the more impressive accomplishments in the history
of popular culture. |
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George Michael
(b. 1963) is a popular singer and songwriter who confirmed his
long-rumored homosexuality after an arrest for "lewd behavior" in 1998.
He
has devoted much effort to AIDS charities since 1992. |
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Music Videos
rarely featured gay and lesbian content in the early 1980s, but with
more openly gay and bisexual artists that situation has gradually
changed. |
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Pansy Division
was the first rock band entirely composed of gay musicians who sang
frankly gay-themed tunes. After a productive period of recording and
touring, they had a fallow spell but have recently re-emerged with a
more mature sound. |
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The Pet Shop
Boys is a British pop duo whose recordings may be seen as a
reaction to events that stirred the British gay community in the last
two decades of the twentieth century. |
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Lou Reed (b.
1942) is a bisexual rock musician who came to symbolize the rebellious
outsider in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. |
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 Tom Robinson
(b. 1950) is a British rocker and activist who was embraced by the gay
rights movement when he sang "Glad to Be Gay" in the late 1970s. He became the subject of controversy in the 1990s when he chose to live
with a woman and become a father. |
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The Smiths, a
Manchester pop group that flourished from 1982 to 1987, created a
highly original brand of punk-inspired music with queer subtexts. The
group's singer and lyricist, Morrissey, cultivates an androgynous image
in his solo career. |
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 Jimmy Somerville
(b. 1961) achieved fame as the lead singer with the openly gay pop
groups Bronski Beat and The Communards. Many of his songs are
overtly political and deal with such issues as gay relationships and
the loss of friends to AIDS. |
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Dusty Springfield
(1939-1999), a British rock star of the 1960s, has long been a gay
and lesbian icon and is recognized as one of the most prominent white
soul singers ever. Springfield came out as a bisexual in 1971, though
recent biographies have shown that she was a lesbian. |
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Michael Stipe
(b. 1960), lead singer, lyricist, and composer for the rock band R.E.M,
as well as a movie producer, identifies himself as a queer artist. |
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Rock Music Part 2 is the second half of a two-part series.
Click here
to view part 1.
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Photo
Credits: The photograph of Pansy Division was created by Richard
Turtletaub. The image of k.d. lang is a detail from a photograph created by Jeri Heiden,
courtesy Sacks and Company. The image of Tom Robinson courtesy
Office of Tom Robinson. The image of Jimmy Somerville courtesy
Solar Management Ltd. |
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