The politics of a gay musician, Pt 1.
06.11.2009 | Author: JW Richard | Posted in Homophobia, Media, Musicians
I think it’s hilarious that I recently had a poll here on the blog about whether or not singer, Adam Lambert was gay and he makes it official this week via Rolling Stone magazine that he is indeed a gay man.
Okay. It just seems to be like that would’ve been something to share once you have some chart-topping hits. I mean, Adam can say that he didn’t want to do “the Clay Aiken thing and celebrity magazine bullsh–” (via MTV.com), but say what you want to about Clay Aiken (and many have), but with all that you say, make sure that you also say his debut CD, Measure of a Man, debuted at #1 and sold over 600,000 in the first week.
Sam Sparro has had UK chart success and critical acclaim here in the US (including a 2009 Grammy nomination) as well, before he publicly came out as a gay man. You’re still singing “Black and Gold” though, and hearing the song on the radio.
In fact, Melissa Etheridge, George Michael, Elton John, and Tracy Chapman are artists we can all point to that have made recognizable popular US music contributions before coming out. The question is, what will be the “track” record of an artist who comes out in the front, or start, of their career? Will that artist be able to sing songs that have universal appeal without heat from the “keep it real” crowd among gay and straight music lovers? You may say that the pressure is off of him because he doesn’t have to feel as if he’s let fans down later on. I say the pressure could be just building because along with all the other hills he’ll have to climb (new artist, American Idol runner-up, debut CD), he’ll have to deal with whether he’s a gay artist, meaning songs specifically for that audience–if its large enough) or a vocalist who happens to be gay.
Musicians have enough to deal with in interpreting their music and marketing it to the masses. Will the identity politics hamper his first stand along musical efforts?
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