Ah, music to my ears! – queer women in the front lines of music

Most of us will probably agree that music is an important part of life: it cheers you up, comforts you, it’s something to hold on to on bad days, it helps you feel good, to exercise, to release tension, to work through your losses or to understand your own interiority. And what’s the best thing that can happen in music? It’s when lesbian* performers break out and become visible!

It was not always a foregone conclusion that they could become visible at all. Let’s take a non-exhaustive look at the history of music! Who were the great icons in the decades of the 20th century that were less fortunate for LGBTQ+ rights?

k.d. lang, who came out in 1992:

Melissa Etheridge, who came out in 1993:

Tracy Chapman, who never admitted to any sexual orientation, keeps her private life strictly away from prying eyes but is nonetheless an iconic figure for members of the LGBTQ+ community:

Sure, most of the performers mentioned here were active in the 1980s and 1990s, but this period was more challenging for the members of our community than the present. A lot of these musicians were also ‘protest’ personalities who, through their serious engagement and advocacy, raised awareness of the plight of other minorities alongside gay rights.

One of the undisputable queer icons is Madonna, who blazed the trail for later female figures. Her career has been largely based on vogue and ballroom culture, even though she herself was not a lesbian*-although social media has other things to say about that these days.

The 2000s also brought a change in the music industry, with the emergence of the “strong (but still quite sexualised) woman” character. Several solo artists built their careers in these years, and although they were not necessarily lesbian* performers, the place of women in the music world was reformed.

Speaking of “lesbian* performers”, reading these lines, I’m sure some of you will have thought of T.A.T.U. – I think many of us were quite disappointed when the backstory was revealed.

However, to make up for it, Tegan and Sara, who we also got to meet in a scene from The L Word, arrived in the 2010s. Since they are twins, they didn’t represent the stereotypical lesbian dream, but they still gave us songs like Closer and I Was a Fool.

The 2020s, despite their rocky start, have brought a new wave in music. We are in the fortunate position to witness openly lesbian* artists becoming superstars and headliners of festivals. The percentage of female musicians who belong to the LGBTQ+ community is higher than ever before among today’s top artists. This phenomenon is due in part to the gay rights movement and the more open audiences it has created, but TikTok also played a big role in spreading the songs.

But who are we talking about?

First and foremost, of course, is Chappell Roan, to whom we owe the new anthem of community parties. Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, born in 1998, has brought the image of the proud and brave queer woman into pop music, someone to love regardless of sexual orientation. She’ll be coming to the Sziget Festival, just saying.

LP: Lost on you – who doesn’t know it? It caught on and stayed, so much so that the very talented singer-songwriter-musician’s tour last year took her to Budapest, which wasn’t even her first time visiting our little country.

On a list like this, we can’t forget Fletcher, who many would also be happy to see if she happened to be passing by.

There’s also Reneé Rapp, who, contrary to her name, doesn’t do rap, but danceable and pleasant pop:

Norwegian Marie Ulven Ringheim is not always in red, despite her stage name (Girl in Red). The situation she sings about is one that many of us have been through:

We can’t not mention our Billie, whose queer identity has been speculated for years, but who only recently admitted to belonging to the community – to no one’s surprise. This song, by the way, would have been telling even without an official coming out:

It’s not pop, but the return of Linkin Park was quite a huge deal in the world of music. In an unorthodox move, after the death of Chester Bennington, they reclaimed the stage with a female lead singer. Emily Armstrong previously appeared with Dead Sara and has a place in the line-up, given that she identifies as queer.