Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000

Music journalist Walters debuts with an ebullient love letter to LGBTQ+ and “gay friendly” musicians. He begins in the late 1960s, when such artists as the Velvet Underground and Elton John explored themes of “alienation, rejection, melancholy... and uncommon love” in songs whose references were unmistakable to those in the know but subtle enough to fly under the radar (see Lou Reed’s “Candy Says,” which speaks “stirringly” of trans actor Candy Darling but could appeal to anyone who’s “wished they could change something about their body”). In the 1970s, David Bowie’s “audaciously queer” Ziggy Stardust persona popularized “bluntly homoerotic songs” and a glam rock style that “embraced... willful artificiality [and] those who couldn’t conform to what culture dictates as real.” Meanwhile Bette Midler, who got her start performing in the gay bathhouses of New York City, popularized “camp like no one since Liberace.” Also examined are the unique challenges faced by artists like the Jackson Five and Diana Ross in putting out music that brought together racial and sexual minorities. Walters evocatively draws out how LGBTQ+ musicians battled oppression in their work even as they navigated a record industry that sought to silence sexual nonconformity while profiting off styles gay musicians made fashionable. It adds up to an impressive and expansive celebration of a rich chapter of music history. (May)