Wrabel - "nothing but the love"

In honor of PRIDE month this June I will spotlight only LGBTQIA+ Artists to show you one more way in which we should be grateful for to the Queer Community and how without it we would not have the world or nation that we love so much. We should be grateful and proud.

My love affair with Wrabel has gone on for a while now, especially after seeing him live a few years back. A talent that doesn’t come along often, and the kind of artists whom is quietly changing things by just consistently doing things their own way. Walking their own narrow road and creating a new path.

So today, with love all around, I choose Wrabel’s "nothing but the love" as my, find the love around, look to the drops that are left, like blood to stain, song for a, breath in your lungs, light in your eyes, love in your heart, Thursday.

Sylvester - "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"

In honor of PRIDE month this June I will spotlight only LGBTQIA+ Artists to show you one more way in which we should be grateful for to the Queer Community and how without it we would not have the world or nation that we love so much. We should be grateful and proud.

A gender divergent star before we had the words to say it! Sylvester shook the earth and moved the sky and we were lucky to have them give us their gifts!

So today, with a few little gems on the horizon, I choose Sylvester’s "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" as my, shake the sky, break the earth, open the way, song for a, be you, live true, sing out, Wednesday.

Billy Porter - "Love is on the Way"

In honor of PRIDE month this June I will spotlight only LGBTQIA+ Artists to show you one more way in which we should be grateful for to the Queer Community and how without it we would not have the world or nation that we love so much. We should be grateful and proud.

Billy Porter is an icon, a legend, a rule breaker, a game changer, and a star. His career through television, film, theatre, and music is the stuff dreams are made of. Recently opening up about his 14 year battle with HIV, his light has, yet again, shone even brighter. It’s a testament to living your truth. The more essentially “you” you are, the more honest you are, the more authentic you are, the brighter your light will burn.

So today, grateful, I choose Billy Porter’s incredible “Love is on the Way” as my, let the earth tremble, let the skies fall, let the seas run dry, song for a, yours is the earth and all that’s in it, lift thine eyes, raise thy voice, Tuesday.

Get into this juicy R&B 90’s realness.

Dusty Springfield - "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me"

In honor of PRIDE month this June I will spotlight only LGBTQIA+ Artists to show you one more way in which we should be grateful for to the Queer Community and how without it we would not have the world or nation that we love so much. We should be grateful and proud.

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), professionally known as Dusty Springfield, was an English pop singer and record producer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was an important singer of blue-eyed soul and at her peak was one of the most successful British female performers, with six top 20 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 and sixteen on the UK Singles Chart from 1963 to 1989. She is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and UK Music Hall of Fame. International polls have named Springfield among the best female rock artists of all time. Her image, supported by a peroxide blonde bouffant hairstyle, evening gowns, and heavy make-up, as well as her flamboyant performances, made her an icon of the Swinging Sixties.

Born in West Hampstead in London to a family that enjoyed music, Springfield learned to sing at home. In 1958 she joined her first professional group, The Lana Sisters, and two years later formed a pop-folk vocal trio, The Springfields, with her brother Tom Springfield, and Tim Feild. They became the UK's top selling act. Her solo career began in 1963 with the upbeat pop hit "I Only Want to Be with You". Among the hits that followed were "Wishin' and Hopin' " (1964), "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" (1964), "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (1966), and "Son of a Preacher Man" (1968).

Springfield brought many little-known soul singers to the attention of a wider UK record-buying audience by hosting the first national TV performance of many top-selling Motown artists beginning in 1965. Partly owing to these efforts, a year later she became the best-selling female singer in the world and topped a number of popularity polls, including Melody Maker's Best International Vocalist. Although she was never considered a Northern Soul artist in her own right, her efforts contributed a great deal to the formation of the genre as a result She was the first UK singer to top the New Musical Express readers' poll for Female Singer.

To boost her credibility as a soul artist, Springfield went to Memphis, Tennessee, to record Dusty in Memphis, an album of pop and soul music with the Atlantic Records main production team. Released in 1969, it has been ranked among the greatest albums of all time by the US magazine Rolling Stone and in polls by VH1 artists, New Musical Express readers, and Channel 4 viewers. The album was also awarded a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame and in March 2020 the US Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry, which preserves audio recordings considered to be "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

Despite its current recognition, the album did not sell well and after relocating to America following its release, she experienced a career slump which lasted several years. However, in collaboration with Pet Shop Boys, she returned to the Top 10 of the UK and US charts in 1987 with "What Have I Done to Deserve This?". Two years later, she had two other UK hits on her own with "Nothing Has Been Proved" and "In Private". Since her death, Springfield has been widely commended as the leading British soul singer of the twentieth century.

Springfield was one of the best-selling UK singers of the 1960s. She was voted the Top Female Singer (UK) by the readers of the New Musical Express in 1964 to 1966 and Top Female Singer in 1965 to 1967 and 1969. Of the female singers of the British Invasion, Springfield made one of the biggest impressions on the US market, scoring 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 from 1964 to 1970 including six in the top 20. The music press considers her an iconic figure of the Swinging Sixties. Quentin Tarantino caused a revival of interest in her music in 1994 by including "Son of a Preacher Man" on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, which sold over three million copies. In that same year, in the documentary, Dusty Springfield: Full Circle, guests of her 1965 Sound of Motown show credited Springfield's efforts with popularising US soul music in the UK.

In 2008, country/blues singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne recorded a tribute album featuring ten of Springfield's songs as well as one original. The album, titled Just a Little Lovin', featured two tracks selected from Springfield's debut, four from Dusty in Memphis, and four from throughout her back catalogue. Lynne's album received critical acclaim, charted at number 41 on the US Billboard Charts and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical).

The beginning of 2017 brought another revival of interest in Springfield's music by the inclusion of the song "The Windmills of Your Mind" in Andy Wilman's The Grand Tour, featuring Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. The cut version can be heard in the fifth episode of the show.

Springfield was popular in Europe and performed at the Sanremo Music Festival. Recordings were released in French, German, and Italian: her French works include a 1964 four-track extended play with "Demain tu peux changer" (aka "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"), "Je ne peux pas t'en vouloir" ("Losing You"), "L'été est fini" ("Summer is Over") and "Reste encore un instant" ("Stay Awhile"); German recordings include the July 1964 single, "Warten und hoffen" ("Wishin' and Hopin' ") backed with "Auf dich nur wart' ich immerzu" ("I Only Want to Be with You"); Italian recordings include "Tanto so che poi mi passa" ("Every Day I Have to Cry") issued as a single. Her entries at the Sanremo festival were "Tu che ne sai" and "Di fronte all'amore" ("I Will Always Want You").

Dusty Springfield is a cultural icon of the Swinging Sixties where she "was an instantly recognisable celebrity". In public and on stage Springfield developed a joyful image supported by her peroxide blonde bouffant hairstyle, evening gowns, and heavy make-up that included her much-copied "panda eye" mascara. Springfield borrowed elements of her look from blonde glamour queens such as Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve and pasted them together according to her own taste. By the 1990s she had also become a camp icon, with her ultra-glamorous look and this, combined with her emotive vocal performances, won her a powerful and enduring following in the gay community. Besides the prototypical female for drag queens, she was presented in the roles of the 'Great White Lady' of pop and soul and the 'Queen of Mods'.

So today, with little songs swirling all around, I choose Dusty Springfield’s cover of “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” as my, singin’ and swingin’, laugh a little, it’s only life anyway, song for a, children will listen, are you a good witch or a bad witch, call to the guardians, Monday.

Boy Untitled - "Losing Time"

In honor of PRIDE month this June I will spotlight only LGBTQIA+ Artists to show you one more way in which we should be grateful for to the Queer Community and how without it we would not have the world or nation that we love so much. We should be grateful and proud.

There are few artists out there who can effortlessly be all of who they are and continue to share that with the world. Living in an open vulnerability where the whole world can see inside to your most sensitive parts.

Boy Untitled has found a way to show the world just who they are, without losing the essential truth of their magic. It has been a beautifully inspiring journey.

As we crack open the cocoon that was 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic, it is music like this that gets our sap running, our juices flowing, and our bodies moving.

So today, with gesture and wink, I choose Boy Untitled’s “Losing Time” as my, a shimmer on the water, midnight skinny-dips, magic in the moonlight song for a, remember your divinity, call back to you the power you gave away to those not worthy, let the ground quiver at the thunder in your steps, Friday.

King Princess - "1950" (pt.2)

In honor of PRIDE month this June I will spotlight only LGBTQIA+ Artists to show you one more way in which we should be grateful for to the Queer Community and how without it we would not have the world or nation that we love so much. We should be grateful and proud.

Mikaela Mullaney Straus (born December 19, 1998), known by her stage name King Princess, is an American singer, songwriter, instrumentalist and producer from Brooklyn, New York. She is signed to Mark Ronson's label Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records.

Straus was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York; she is the daughter of recording engineer Oliver H. Straus Jr. and Agnes "Aggie" Mullaney. Her parents divorced while she was young. On her mother's side she is of Irish, Italian, and Polish descent. On her father's side, her great-great-grandparents include Isidor Straus, a U.S. Congressman and co-owner of Macy's, and Ida Straus; they were from German Jewish families, who immigrated to the United States from the Kingdom of Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate. The couple died in the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Titanic.

Straus spent much of her childhood with her father in his Mission Sound studio. There, she learned several instruments, including bass, guitar, piano, and drums, as well as music-production techniques and insight into the music industry. Straus's inspiration in those years had come from the rock music of the bands Led Zeppelin and T. Rex, as well as Jack White. She attended high school at Avenues: The World School, a private school in Manhattan, and played volleyball.

After high school, Straus moved to Los Angeles to study at the USC Thornton School of Music. However, after a year, she dropped out in favor of her music career.

A music label offered to sign Straus at the age of 11, but she refused to do so. Straus refused because of her experience watching other artists work with a music label in her father's studio. The labels would control the artist's product, and change the feel of the music. She did not want to sign with a record label until she had a definition of her music, how she wanted to run the production, and with whom she would work.

In February 2018, King Princess released her debut single "1950". "1950" is a tribute to the 1952 novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, to the LGBT community and to queer love. The song reached a wide audience when British singer Harry Styles tweeted a lyric from the song. Straus followed this with her second single "Talia" in April. She released her debut extended play Make My Bed on June 15, 2018. Later that year, she earned Breakout Pop Artist of the Year honors from Vivid Seats.

In 2019, it was announced that King Princess would perform at Lollapalooza and Coachella. She played The Park stage at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival and was joined by Mark Ronson (dressed as King Princess) for a performance of their collaboration "Pieces of Us" from his 2019 album Late Night Feelings. Zelig Recordings released King Princess's debut album Cheap Queen on October 25, 2019. King Princess was the opening act for the European leg of Harry Styles' 2020 concert tour, Love On Tour. King Princess performed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live (Season 45, Episode 7) on November 23, 2019.  She released a deluxe edition of Cheap Queen on February 14, 2020. The release included five previously unreleased new songs, including "Ohio".

Some loves are worth waiting for.

So today, wrapped in hope and held in happiness, I choose the radiant King Princess’ “1950” as my, find your light, take your flight, remember the first night, song for a, walk with my hand in yours, hold your hand to my window, let me hold away your fears, Thursday.

Scott Matthew - "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" & "The Wish"

In honor of PRIDE month this June I will spotlight only LGBTQIA+ Artists to show you one more way in which we should be grateful for to the Queer Community and how without it we would not have the world or nation that we love so much. We should be grateful and proud.

SCOTT MATTHEW is a singer/songwriter, born in Queensland (Australia), but has been living in New York for many years now. He has described himself as a ‘Quiet-Noise-Maker’ with a passion for ballads. In 2006 he has received a lot of attention from John Cameron Mitchell`s film SHORTBUS. Scott Matthew wrote the theme song ‘In The End’ in addition to five more songs performed in the film by himself and featured on the soundtrack.

Fans of the Japanese animation-serial GHOST IN THE SHELL had the chance to discover his haunting voice before. He provided vocals on seven songs for the soundtrack of the season ‘Stand Alone Complex’, all being composed by YOKO KANNO, including the Closing Theme Song ‘Lithium Flower’ . This animation-serial generated lot`s of exposure worldwide, when the show was aired also outside of Japan on Cartoon Network`s in the U.S. and on MTV Europe.

He has earned high respect among critics and fans alike since his self-titled debut in 2008. His previous five solo albums made him stand out from the crowd, especially as a songwriter with his highly emotional songs. Scott Matthew writes and sings of the longing and disappearing of love, like hardly anyone else.

For the recording of his Christmas-EP SILENT NIGHTS (2008) Scott Matthew invited his Australian friend and colleague SIA into the studio for a duet. He had also the privilege to open the concerts in England and Australia for today’s Superstar on her ‘Some People Have Real Problems’ Tour.

In 2013 Scott Matthew released A covers-album UNLEARNED. His personal hit-parade. In a wide varity of songs he discovered, felt and worked out the emotional core with so much respect, that it becomes obvious, that these cover versions are not foreign songs at all, but in a way his very own, original material. He makes them his own songs. For example what come of the originally quite trivial Pop smash ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ by Whitney Houston is a wonderful, piano-dominated ballad.

The album release in 2016 was the dreamlike beautiful masterpiece of sadness LIFE IS LONG, a collaboration with the Portuguese composer RODRIGO LEAO. Scott Matthew contributed the lyrics and his intense singing to the melancholic arrangements of the Madredeus founding member.

His sixth studio album is titled ODE TO OTHERS (2018). With this album there is a departure from the subject of romantic love and the disappointments that can come from such endeavors. Instead this collection of songs pays homage to love in a broader sense. Honors are bestowed to family, friends and the mistreated both alive and deceased. Actual places also play a part of some of the songs subjects. His Australian childhood or his adult home of New York.

His latest work entitled ‘ADORNED’  (out MAY 15th, 2020). The idea for making ‘ADORNED’ was to take some of Scott Matthew`s original songs and re-imagine them. To dress them up in finery and have them re-enter the world with a new found confidence and attitude. A make over of sound and intention. “They have been adorned” says Scott. In close collaboration with the Los Angeles based producer Jens Gad,  Scott Matthew worked out ten amazing new versions of his all time classics. They used the original vocal tracks, modified some guitars and other parts of the songs and added strings and beats. Scott says: “This album may not be what people are used to with me. I urge people to have fun with it while listening. Adorn yourself in a robe of silk and velvet. Have a dance, have a cry. Connect to the past while moon walking into the future. Looking back while moving forward. Just try not to fall over while doing it as i have done on occasion. Though that may have been the red wine…”

So today, with a little more love and a sprinkle of hope, I choose Scott Matthew’s "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" & "The Wish" as my, on your own journey, age like wine, love like fire, songs for a, breathe in hope, exhale loss, look to the stars, Wednesday.

Lil' Nas X - "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)"

In honor of PRIDE month this June I will spotlight only LGBTQIA+ Artists to show you one more way in which we should be grateful for to the Queer Community and how without it we would not have the world or nation that we love so much. We should be grateful and proud.

He’s a trailblazer who literally had to carve out his own path in the music industry. When you tell a child they’re going to hell for their feelings, it’s no wonder when they start questioning your beliefs instead of their own.

From a meme connoisseur to a Grammy-nominated paradigm, Lil Nas X fiercely became an internationally recognized phenomenon. With the Billy Ray Cyrus-featuring remix of his "Old Town Road," Lil Nas X climbed the charts with relentless speed. "Road" broke an abundance of records, notably becoming the longest running No. 1 in Hot 100 history (a record previously held by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," recently equaled by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito"). With a 2020 Grammy nomination for album of the year, Lil Nas X's 2020s are looking bright as well.

Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), known as Lil Nas X (/nɑːz/ NAHZ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He came to international attention for his country rap single "Old Town Road", which first achieved viral popularity on the micro-platform video sharing app TikTok in early 2019, and was diamond certified by November the same year. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, following the first of several remixes, and remained at the top for nineteen weeks, the longest for any song since the chart debuted in 1958. Nas X also came out as gay, becoming the only artist to do so while having a number-one record. "Old Town Road" earned him two MTV Video Music Awards including Song of the Year; the American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Song; and Nas X is the only openly LGBTQ artist to win a Country Music Association award. He won two Grammy Awards, for Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, along with being nominated for a total of six, the most for any male artist in 2019 ,  Time named Nas X one of the 25 most influential people on the Internet in 2019. Nas X was also named by Forbes on their 2020 30 under 30 list.

His debut EP, 7, was released in June 2019 with its second single, "Panini", peaking at number five on the Hot 100 and three on Rolling Stone's Top 100. Its third single, "Rodeo", also proved successful on the charts. As of September 2019, his songs have been streamed over 2.3 billion times

So today, blazing trails down old roads I choose Lil’ Nas X’s “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" as my, be the brightest version of you, show them just how bold you can be, dare them to tell you otherwise, song for a, rise up, break out, burn them down, Thursday.