"I'm feelin' so good right now

There's a handsome boy tells me how I've changed his past

He buys me a brandy

But could it be, he's really just after my ass."

There were rumors that Townshend was bisexual/gay, but in an interview he said they weren't true...he also said that he would not get upset or defensive about the issue, because that would be insulting to gay people.

Roger Daltrey, the Who's lead singer appeared in a film about two men in love, although I can't think of the name right now.

Not that this really means anything, but Keith Moon, The Who's drummer (and also one of the best drummers of all time, mind you) was fond of dressing in drag.

Dan Bern:



Has a song "Cure For Aids," which is about "everyone admitting their plot to kill all the gays". He hasn't really sung any songs about gays, but he is very socially liberal.

Yoko Ono--Has spoken about how she feels connected with gays and lesbians...wrote in one of her essays (in the booklet to her album Approxomitely Infinite Universe) about lesbians. She speaks about her friends who have AIDS, has donated money and food to Gay Men's Health Crisis, and one of her longtime closest friends has long been speculated as gay. In an interview, Ono said ": I feel very close to (gay people). I feel there is a real emotional kind of sharing --- for just being an outsider I suppose." Also appeared in the issue of Advocate which had musicians addressing the issue, and Yoko Ono was one of those who attacked the anti gay marriage backers. Rereleased "Every Man has a woman who loves him" as two seperate tracks, "Every Man Has a Man who loves him" and "every woman has a woman who loves her."

John Lennon--Along with Yoko, John was later outspokenly pro-gay. There have been stories about homophobic remarks from him, but if they did occur, they all took place before he met that wonderful lady known as Yoko. The Beatle's manager, Bran Epstein, was openly gay, and it was obvious that he was pretty much in love with John. It is speculated that "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" was written for Brian. Later on, during his years with Yoko, he became an outspoken champion of all human rights, including gays.



Frank Zappa--Although gay rights attacked him for his song "He's So Gay," what they failed to realize was that that song was pure satire, which Zappa is so famous for. Through the album that "He's So Gay" is from, Thing Fish, Zappa actually intimates that the government made AIDS to get rid of gays and blacks. He also blames the religious fundamentalists for letting AIDS spread by saying it was God's punishment, and that we should do nothing about it.

I also think that Zappa's song "You Are What You Is," from the album of the same title, is one of the strongest statements for accepting who you are, no matter who it is you are. During his statement to the Senate on the PMRC's proposal to censor music, Zappa said the following: "Understanding hte fundamentalist leanings of this organization, I think it is fair to wonder if their rating system will eventually be extended to inform parents as to whather a musical group has homosexuals in it. Will the PMRC permit musical groups to exist, but only if gay members don't sing, and are not depicted on the cover?"

Zappa also wrote briefly in his book The Real Frank Zappa Book, about the media's so-called "liberal slant" and mentioned their attacking of gays as an example of how that is not an accurate statement.

Sinead O'Connor--Well, I think we all know now she is a lesbian...or bisexual...or something. She came out as a lesbian and then she said she's actually bisexual...so you know, take what you will. She does have two kids, and has said she has fallen in love with men. She's been married a few times (to men).

Hole--Courtney Love has spoken about "experimenting" with women before, but she is straight. However, Hole's former drummer, Patty Schemel, was an open lesbian, and Love has spoken up for gays and lesbians.

Sheryl Crow:



Sheryl Crow has always been a pretty "liberal" person, and on her first album, Tuesday Night Music Club, which came out right about the time of the gays in the military debate, there is a line in "The Na-Na Song" that says "U.S. Army only wants a few straight men." I perceive this as a play on the Marine's "The few, the brave, the proud," and whatever the one is that's "Looking for a few good men."

Chrissie Hynde/The Pretenders:



Chrissie Hynde appeared in Out Magazine in an interview, and she talked about how one thing she doesnt like is that the gay community has always been so focused on the dance/techno kind of music, and she wishes that more gay people would get into other forms of music, or something like that, it's been a while since I read the interview. The Pretenders also toured with the B-52's (see below).

Moby:



If you've ever read any of Moby's essays in his CDs, he is very strongly outspoken for equality for gays and lesbians. In the essays for his CD Animal Rights, Moby writes about how we just need to accept that all people, including gays and lesbians, deserve equal rights. Moby also was outspoken against Eminem's lyrics, and even though I am not, this is another example of his championing of gay rights.

Cyndi Lauper--Cyndi Lauper is all about some gay people. Her sister is a lesbian and she even wrote a love song to another woman as kind of a joke between her and her sister.

The B-52's:



The B-52's have always been outspokenly gay friendly. Their guitarist, Ricky Wilson, was gay. He passed away of AIDS in the mid-eighties, and since then, the B's have donated a lot of time and money to gay mens' groups and AIDS charities. Fred Schneider, the lead singer, is gay. Not sure about Keith Strickland, who was the drummer before Ricky died and is now the guitarist, although he does have a rainbow sticker on the guitar he uses in concert.

The Beastie Boys:



Although on their first album, they apparently made an anti-gay song (i havent heard it), they are now strongly outspoken for all human rights. They actually issued a public apology to the gay community over what they said on their first album. In the Millenium issue of Rolling Stone, for an object you would like to see made, or something of the sort, Mike D said "a tool that would erase racism, sexism, homophobia and all the other illusory differences that seperate us." Also in the song "Alive," which is one of three new songs on the anthology Sounds Of Science there is the line:

Who in the world do you want to fight

It's against the system we should unite

Homophobics ain't alright

If you learn to love than you might love life"

Bruce Springsteen : Bruce Springsteen appeared in an interview of The Advocate, and spoke of his support for gays and lesbians. He is also good friends with Melissa Etheridge, and she has spoken of how welcome she alwasy felt bringing her partner with her to his house.

Kurt Cobain:



In the booklet for the CD Incesticide, Cobain writes "If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us--leave us the fuck alone! Don't come to our shows and don't buy our records."

Neil Diamond:



I remember reading something about him saying it really doesn't matter what sexuality you have, you are still a person. He also recently did a duet with Melissa Etheridge as a remake of his hit song "America."

Blondie:



Blondie has always been considered a gay friendly band, even at their start back in the mid seventies. They arose from the CBGB's scene, which, for the most part, was a scene where diversity was rampant and well accepted. In their memoir about Blondie, guitarist Chris Stein and lead singer Deborah Harry talk about living with someone who was gay, just mentioning it in passing, how it was nothing important. Deborah Harry also became an icon of sorts for gay people, and she has appeared in several benefits for gays and lesbians, and the whole band, Stein, Harry, keyboardist Jimmy Destri and drummer Clem Burke, is very open in accepting their large amount of gay fans.

Pink:



Her hero in music is Linda Perry (see above) and Linda co wrote and produced over half of M!ssunderstood. She said in her interview with Maxim Blender that she is attracted to strong women for friendship, and because of this a lot of her friends are lesbians.

Queen Latifah:

Queen Latifah appeared at the 2000 March on Washington in support of gay rights.

Juliana Hatfield:



Once again, I have not read anything directly in which she talks about homosexuality upfront, on her album Total System Failure, she has a song called "Breeders." For anyone who doesn't know, 'breeder' is a derogatory term used towards heterosexuals by some extreme gay activists. The song delivers lines such as "Scary breeders/they have come/with their sons and daughters/have another."

Wynona Judd:



Wynona apppeared in a concert supporting lesbians. She has a large lesbian fanbase.

Evan Dando (Lemonheads Lead Singer/Guitarist):

:

Evan is quoted in the advocate as saying "Gay people can get beat up and even killed simply for who they are and that really pisses me off."..well said.

Bonnie Raitt:

:

Bonnie Raitt signed her name to a petition supporting gay marraige and appears on an album put out by the Human Rights Campaign (gay political group)

Alanis Morissette:

:

Morissette once said in an interview if she had a son, she would like him to be gay, because that way she could nurture both his masculine and feminine sides.

Justin Timberlake:

:

Justin Timberlake was on the cover of Advocate magazine with an interview inside on hsi support for gays and lesbians.

Christina Aguilera:

Christina Aguilera was recently recognized by GLAAD (the gay and lesbian alliance against defamation) for her "Beautiful" video, where she shows a man dressing as a woman and two men kissing. Her new album, "Stripped," also has several songs produced and written/co-written by Linda Perry (see above).

NOFX:

Fat Mike, the lead singer/bassist of the band was very involved in punk voter, an organization dedicated to getting punk fans and other youth out to vote. He was stridently anti-Bush and talked about his anti-gay ideas as one reason he is a bad president.

The Bouncing Souls:

Played a benefit concert where one of the charities was the OUT fund, a group working for gay, lesbian, bisesxual and transgender rights.

The RX Bandits:

On their website they write about the unfortunate consequences of the Bush administrations policies on gays and lesbians, how they want to push them back into the closet.

Anti-Flag :

Justin Sane, the lead singer of the band, has written a lot about gay equality, especially during the last presidential election and afterwards. He is a supporter of gay marriage (as I'm sure the whole band is.)