History LGBTFanbase / Music

* Music/BadBunny is considered to be a Latin American queer icon due to his outspoken support of the gay and trans community and a lot of queer coded themes in his songs such as cross dressing and commentary about toxic masculinity in Latin American culture. It helps that he acknowledges that despite currently identifying himself as straight, he does see sexuality as fluid. He is also notable for being one of the few male artists with a lesbian fanbase.

* Swedish wartime diva Zarah Leander was embraced by gay men in Germany, thanks to songs like “Kann die Liebe sünde sein,” with definite subtext [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything coded in the lyrics]] from her gay male songwriters.

* Music/KateBush has had a very large queer following from the outset, generally attributed to a mix of her campy theatrics, her unrepentant eccentricity, her exploration of atypical and even taboo subjects, and especially her ability to build a successful career on her own terms, all which resonated well with the LGBT community and their plights. Bush herself acknowledged this part of her fanbase relatively quickly, including explicitly gay characters in "Wow" and "Kashka from Baghdad" on her second album.

[[LGBTFanbase LGBT Fanbases]] in {{Music}}.

** Music/{{Queen}} have a following among LGBTQ+ persons, most likely due to Freddie Mercury's sexuality and {{Camp}} fashion.

* Music/Björk has quite a sizeable LGBTQ+, helped by the fact that she is Bisexual herself, her advocacy for left wing causes, her usage of experimental music, campy wardrobes, and eccentricity have all endeared her towards quite a large LGBTQ+ fanbase. Her work with openly transgender artists, Anohni and Arca, even helping them by boosting their careers through collaborations with her on the albums Volta and Utopia has also endeared her to the Transgender community.

* Most genres of [[AlternativeRock alternative and indie rock]] have had some popularity among LGBTQ people from the beginning. First, the original genres that constituted alternative rock (such as NewWaveMusic, PostPunk, and JanglePop) were played in discos early on, which were popular among LGBT people, plus many alternative performers and fans tended to be politically left-of-center and egalitarian, and thus they were more accepting of LGBTQ people than fans of other 1980s and 1990s music genres. Plus, several alternative performers, like [[Music/HuskerDu Bob Mould, Grant Hart]], [[Music/{{REM}} Michael Stipe]], the members of Music/PansyDivision, half of the members of Music/TheB52s, and Music/AniDiFranco, all identified as LGBTQ+ in some capacity. Even straight artists would often write a GayAesop song, acknowledging this fanbase.

** Given Music/RageAgainstTheMachine's mostly leftist leanings, it's no surprise that the band is pretty popular with queer folk. This popularity was spun into full force when guitarist Tom Morello shared an edited photo with a pride flag plastered over the confederate flag on the General Lee from Series/TheDukesOfHazzard, during pride month.

** Music/{{Nirvana}} has gained a large influx of LGBTQ+ fans over the years, with Music/KurtCobain himself being an avid supporter of the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. In fact, the topic of Cobain's sexuality has been widely debated for a several years, in which past interviews seem to indicate that he was at the very least bicurious. Kurt has also crossdressed during a handful of concerts as well.

** Music/Nirvana has gained a large influx of LGBTQ+ fans over the years, with Music/KurtCobain himself being an avid supporter of the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. In fact, the topic of Cobain's sexuality has been widely debated for a several years, in which past interviews seem to indicate that he was at the very least bicurious. Kurt has also crossdressed during a handful of concerts as well.

** While Music/Weezer itself is fairly straight, the band has a surprising amount of LGBTQ+ fans. A couple of their songs have alluded to same-sex relationships, with "[[Music/{{Pinkerton}} Pink Triangle]" in particular being based off of a gay friend Music/Rivers Cuomo had when he was younger.

* Female pop musicians (tragic personal lives and {{creator breakdown}}s optional) with LGBTQ+ followings (usually gay men) have nearly become a cliche, to the point where said musicians often comment on it and occasionally come out themselves. Examples include Music/LadyGaga (a bisexual herself), Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/KylieMinogue (Kylie is recognized as being one of the world's biggest [[http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/music/2014/03/25/kylie-minogue-i-became-gay-icon-being-myself gay icons]], so much that "Kylie fan" has been used as a euphemism for gay men -- plus she was also guest of honor at the 1994 Sydney Gay Mardi Gras, and ''Series/{{Galavant}}'' cast her as "The Queen of The Enchanted Forest", the owner of a [[GayBarReveal gay bar]]), Music/{{Robyn}}, Music/DollyParton (who has participated in quite a bit of LGBT activism and held events at Dollywood, and then there was the time she entered a Dolly Parton look a like contest anonymously with a bunch of {{Drag Queen}}s (and [[YourCostumeNeedsWork lost]])), Music/MarinaDiamandis, Music/KimPetras (a trans woman herself), Music/CyndiLauper, Music/LanaDelRey, Music/TeganAndSara (both lesbians themselves), Music/{{Beyonce}} (while she didn't make any attempt to appeal to LGBTQ+ audiences in her work with Music/DestinysChild nor her early solo work, her "diva" status gave her solo work a dedicated PeripheryDemographic of gay men), Music/ArianaGrande, [[Music/CocteauTwins Elizabeth Fraser]], Music/JanetJackson, Melissa Etheridge (a lesbian herself), Music/{{Cher}} (notably, her comeback album ''Believe'' actually happened because Warner Music UK head Rob Dickins suggested she record a dance music album to appeal to her LGBT Fanbase), Music/VanessaCarlton (a bisexual herself), Music/ToriAmos (whose gay following stems from her earliest performances in gay bars -- Amos even claims her music is too emotionally raw for straight men), the Music/SpiceGirls, Music/CarlyRaeJepsen (who has embraced her gay following, calling her relationship with them a "mutual lovefest"), Music/DianaRoss (especially as her song "I'm Coming Out" became an unofficial gay anthem (in fact songwriter Nile Rodgers got the idea for the song after seeing multiple DragQueen impersonators of Diana Ross at a club), Creator/JudyGarland, and Music/BarbraStreisand. Gloria Gaynor's song "I Will Survive" has become an anthem among the LGBT community.

* Most genres of [[AlternativeRock alternative and indie rock]] have had some popularity among LGBT people from the beginning. First, the original genres that constituted alternative rock (such as NewWaveMusic, PostPunk, and JanglePop) were played in discos early on, which were popular among LGBT people, plus many alternative performers and fans tended to be politically left-of-center and egalitarian, and thus they were more accepting of LGBT people than fans of other 1980s and 1990s music genres. Plus, several alternative performers, like [[Music/HuskerDu Bob Mould, Grant Hart]], [[Music/{{REM}} Michael Stipe]], the members of Music/PansyDivision, half of the members of Music/TheB52s, and Music/AniDiFranco, all identified as LGBTQ+ in some capacity. Even straight artists would often write a GayAesop song, acknowledging this fanbase.