Cleo Brann and Sally-Ann Marshall explore how queer identities have affected the music industry
These days you expect to see more diverse and innovative musicians in mainstream media, but it wasn’t always this way. Gay marriage was only legalised on the 29th of March in 2014 in the UK, a relatively recent development. In the 1980s there weren’t many openly proud queer people in the media due to fear of prejudice despite homosexuality being legalised in 1967. Just because it was legal, this didn’t mean society would accept it. However, a few pioneers opened up about their sexuality, demonstrating their pride for this identity and helping society progress.
Nowadays, we have openly transformative and queer icons in pop culture such as Chappell Roan (44.7M listeners monthly) and Billie Eilish (88.5M listeners monthly), Mitski (21.4M listeners monthly), Troye Sivan (19.2M listeners monthly).
Chappell Roan debuted her first studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, in 2023. Chappell was not an overnight sensation – her first song, ‘Die Young’, was released in 2014. She has worked her way up in the industry for a decade to get to where she is. Now, she advocates for gay rights and workers rights in the music industry.
She draws influences from Drag, a prominent part of queer culture, for her makeup looks and outfits, normalising queer self expression. Chappell Roan got her start in 2024 when she opened for Olivia Rodrigo in her Guts tour. She also features in several of Olivia’s songs such as ‘Lacy’, ‘Obsessed’, ‘Can’t Catch me Now’ (also featured in ‘The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’). Chappell Roan gained a lot of popularity from this tour causing her single ‘Good Luck Babe’ to go viral.
Chappell is often criticised for her outspoken personality and ‘attitude’ towards some people. Despite this backlash, she was awarded a Grammy for best new artist in 2025. Her presence in the music industry demonstrates how society has evolved tolerance and even love for queer women and people, though it is clear there is some prejudice still held against queer women and there is more work to be done.
However, many artists have paved the way for these modern queer artists such as Freddie Mercury. He is arguably one of the most notable queer musicians out there. Yet, many people might not realise that he identified as bisexual.
This possibly comes from two main issues, which are the erasure of bisexual people, especially men, and Freddie’s choice to maintain a relatively private life as a celebrity.
He was adored by many in Britain, and even to this day, the members of Queen (47.3 million monthly listeners) are regarded as key figures in British pop culture.
When the music video for “I Want to Break Free” debuted, it featured Freddie and the rest of Queen in drag, mimicking a popular British soap, Coronation Street. This stirred up quite a bit of controversy in the U.S. and was banned from MTV. The song itself is about feeling trapped within a relationship and yearning for freedom, something Freddie understood from his earlier life, confined by the stereotypical expectations of being an immigrant and a queer man during that era.
Freddie embraced many things that did not fit the traditional mould for men at that time. For example, he took Princess Diana to a gay bar in drag during the 1980s, a story that remains popular to this day. He also had an unofficial husband, Jim Hutton. Unfortunately, gay marriage wasn’t legalised while Freddie was alive. But he still referred to Jim as his husband, and they both wore marriage bands.
Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS, a largely misunderstood disease, even with misconceptions about how it could be transmitted. Often those who had it were discriminated against because it was wrongly associated with gay and bisexual men. During his last appearance at the Brit Awards, he openly discussed his illness in, helping to shed light on HIV/AIDS. Freddie Mercury passed away on November 24, 1991, after living a life defined by freedom and self-expression.
Freddie played a significant role in transforming how an entire generation views and engages with those around them. He continues to inspire many artists past and present who have openly discussed themes of sexuality and the pursuit of liberty, including the likes of Lady Gaga and David Bowie.
As a whole, the queer community has had a great influence on pop culture over multiple generations. They have been invaluable in helping many queer people to break free from societal expectations.
