Celebrating Pride with The Queer Artists Shaping Today's Music

From the moment we all heard the words "new genre" and "gay pop" come out of Jojo Siwa's mouth, we all began wondering who exactly invented gay pop. Queer and gay artists have been around as long as humans have been on this earth. With the trailblazers of the music industry helping shape our new and now normal, visibility in the queer community has come a long way thanks to these innovators. It sometimes can be hard to remember that the Stonewall riots happened only 55 years ago, when our community was living in secret and being arrested for simply being true.

While many words of hate and crimes against our queer family still happens everyday, change is progressing each and everyday. With that comes a new wave of opening gay and queer icons in the music industry who are showing representation. With celebrations of pride month all around us, we will explore our current favorite queer artists who are not only impacting the LGBTQIA+ community, but shaping today's music.

1. Chappell Roan
   

I think it goes without saying that Chappell Roan has quickly become one of the most influential artists of our generation after the recent release of her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. With sounds reminscent of Kate Bush and Cyndi Lauper and outfits bringing us back to early Gaga days, the "Good Luck, Babe" singer rose to fame in what seems like overnight. She is bringing back the '80s sounds pop music built upon while giving us current day lyrics and energy. If she isn't already planning world domination, we see a Chappell Roan takeover in the near future.

2. Renee Rapp

In the words of our other favorite sapphic artists, "We both have a crush on Regina George." The 24 year old Snow Angel was introduced to the world starring in Mean Girls on broadway at just 18 years old. She tugged at our heart strings and gave us a snippet of her natural comedic nature as soroity lesbian, Leighton Murray, in Sex Lives of College Girls. But we fell in love with Renee through her insane pop and RnB vocals and how she makes all her shows also feel like you're at a stand up show with her quick-witted personality. She recently proudly came out as a lesbian while guest starring on SNL and has let her flag fly at every gig since.

3. Troye Sivan

You can't call yourself Gen Z if you didn't have an obsession with the Troyler ship in the 2010s. Gracing our laptops and iPods with his covers of Ed Sheeran and Adele, the Australian singer's success has been a joy to watch, espeically for us queer kids who grew up reading fanfiction. In the age of sit down "Coming Out,' videos, Troye helped pioneer a new way of being discovered, through the internet. Every Tumblr kid's dashboard was filled with gifs of his collabs with Tyler Oakley and Caspar Lee and videos of "The Fault In Our Stars." Watching Troye Bloom into a full fledged pop star working with Ariana Grande, touring with Charli XCX and even acting in "The Idol," gives us all hope that our once embarrassing YouTube videos could someday be the catalyst for stardom.

4. boygenius

What's better than three best friends making music you can cry in your car to? Pheobe Bridgers, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus had no issue making names for themselves as individual singer/songwriters. Together, they propelled themselves even further, becoming a three-time grammy winning trio for their debut album, "The Record." They embarked on their own tour bringing along fellow queer artists Claud, Bartees Strange and MUNA. What originally started as three friends and a co-headlining tour soon became something far beyond what any of them could have even dreamed of. We can't help but relive this era through tiktoks of them falling on stage and giving each other kisses so passionate, histroy would say they were really good friends.

5. Billie Eilish

No one was more excited hearing “Lunch,” for the first time than we were. There is nothing we love more than loudly expressing our enthusiasm for queer love. Billie had kept any label she identified with ambiguous for quite some time and not giving in to any speculation surrounding her sexuality. After being outed by Variety, she chose to take back her coming out and fully owned her queer attraction in her new album. Billie is a testament to the fact that coming out should be on your terms, no one else's, nor does it need to be formal and serious, it can be playful and celebratory. Not only has she been a trailblazer since before her first grammy win, but continues to be with each album cycle, constantly outdoing her own previous work. The “Bad Guy” singer begins a tour later this year and we can’t wait to dance and cry along.

6. Orville Peck

Orville Peck changed the game when he came on the scene concealing his face and identity. Beginning as a self-produced artist, he soon started performing on late-night talk shows and adding festivals to his roster. His unique sounds influenced by Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton, Orville makes a way in the genre of country music that does not have many queer spaces. Since his start he has worked closely with good friend Trixie Mattel, re-imagined “Born This Way” for Lady Gaga’s 10th anniversary of the album, been a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, released a cover with Willie Nelson and even a duet with Noah Cyrus. If there weren’t spaces for LGBTQIA+ artists in country music before, Orville Peck has begun to create it.

7. MUNA

To say we are a Number One Fan is an understatement. This trio captured our hearts and our ears with their provocative and gut-wrenching first album “About U.” Their use of synths and gender-neutral pronouns in their songs engaged fans no matter where they fell on the spectrum of sexuality and gender. There is nothing more sapphic coded than starting a band and taking over the world with your ex and we eat it up every time. We will always owe the biggest thanks for bringing our faves on tour with him for his North American dates of his first solo tour, because how else would we have been introduced to this triple whammy of gay panic. Their collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers on the les-banger that is “Silk Chiffon” only solidified their place as a staple on your pride playlist. On top of creative the soundtrack to your summer, they also host the podcast Gayotic often bringing on queer guests to discuss astrology, sex, and their ever evolving music career.

8. The Beaches

Troye Sivan wasn’t the only one on this list that proves the power of the internet, as this Canadian band got a taste of a sold out tour and an increase of streams after their single “Blame Brett” blew up on TikTok. But this quartet was no stranger to stardom, opening for legendary rock band the Rolling Stones in 2019 and winning a Juno Award in 2022. But it wasn’t until going independent and releasing their post-breakup anthem that the internet started paying more attention. Their explosion may have been ten years in the making, but The Beaches are just getting started.

9. Lil Nas X

There was a time in which you couldn’t turn on your radio or scroll on social media without hearing “Old Town Road.” This trend setter set a record for the longest running number one on the Billboard Hot 100, but the success did not end there. Who knew promoting your song with memes would actually work? Lil Nas X loves to push limits, stirring up controversy (and serving while at it) with the “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” music video. He may be riling up the homophobes, but he knows exactly what he’s doing to keep on the charts and in your playlists.

10. Peach PRC

The only princess peach in our minds, Peach PRC began making TikToks in 2019 about her love life, struggles with mental health and her music. The world fell in love with her for her honest and authentic personality and even more so for her hyperpop bangers she blesses us with. Peach previously and publicly identified as bisexual before coming out as a lesbian in 2022, shedding light on how sexuality is a spectrum and it can take some time to find yourself. Peach is also synesthetic, giving an extra magical element to her music and visuals. She came out with her first EP consisting of a Paris Hilton sample in “Perfect For You” even causing Paris to post a TikTok with the song. Peach PRC is currently one of the most successful Australian Tiktokers and continues to prove she is a solid artist and more than just an influencer.

11. Ethel Cain

Ethel truly is a one of a kind artist we are lucky to have in this time. Something in Florida homeschool really gave the mind artistic flair. Being a trans woman raised in the church, many of us can relate to the themes of religious trauma explored through her 2021 EP “Inbred” and even more so in her album “Preacher’s Daughter.” Critically named one of the best albums of 2022, written and self-produced, Ethel dives into concepts of horror, gospel, addiction, assault, abduction and cannibalism all while completely encapsulating your mind, never once losing the plot. Almost as if you’re watching a foreign film, each songs sets its scene and thoroughly tells the story it holds. Ethel has added Coachella and performances with Florence Welch to her roster and is set to play both Lollapalooza and All Things Go later this year.

12. The Last Dinner Party

The pandemic brought us a lot of anxiety and changes, but it also brought us the formation of The Last Dinner Party so sometimes good things come out of weird situations. Much like another group on this list, the UK group found themselves opening for the Rolling Stones and singing with a label the next year. Within the last year they have supported Hozier on his 2023 tour, played a handful of festivals, released their first album in February and even won a Brit Award. We are still getting to know the young queer group as they embark on their new career and we can’t wait to see how many more anthems we get to sing along the way.

13. FLETCHER

You may have discovered Cari Fletcher as a scared 17 year old on the X Factor, or from the drama that was Leztopia on Tiktok, you were fortunate enough to hear the masterpiece that is “Becky’s So Hot.” Nothing more real has ever been said than admitting how attracted you are to your ex’s new partner, and Fletch said what we were all thinking. In 2018 she began gaining commercial success when her single “Undrunk” reached number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her ex, Shannon Beveridge, who would soon be the center of her marketing campaign for her debut album, often appeared in her videos and was the subject matter of many of her songs. But in true lesbian fashion, they couldn’t stay away from each other and collaborated on Fletcher’s EP “The S(ex) Tapes.” Two years later she released her debut album to positive reviews and songs such as “Sting” and “Her Body Is Bible” filling up every sapphic’s FYP. Was Shannon in on the drama? Was it truly just a marketing scheme? Did Cari’s Becky shirt order really get canceled? We will continue jamming to her new album “In Search of the Antidote” and eat it up as long as it keeps going.