Best LGBTQ+ Albums: 12 Essential Records That Have Championed The Cause

11: Culture Club: ‘Colour By Numbers’ (1983)

Boy George broke barriers with disarming charm and had become an international star within 12 months of the release of Culture Club’s breakout hit, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, at the end of 1982. His band’s first album, Kissing To Be Clever, had done well but, disproving the cliché about “difficult” second albums, Colour By Numbers seemed an almost effortless pitch at world domination. Like most mega albums, a huge launch single helped things along – Karma Chameleon remains an airplay staple to this day – but the other tracks, including Church Of The Poison Mind (issued ahead of the record as a standalone single), It’s A Miracle and Miss Me Blind, all pack a punch – albeit one wrapped within a velvet glove. In an era when public opinion remained extremely sensitive towards alternative lifestyles, Boy George and Culture Club proved hostility could be softened with a lighter touch.

Must hear: Victims

10: Sylvester: ‘Living Proof’ (1979)

Soul and disco trailblazer Sylvester had a voice that could melt ice – and hearts – and his 1978 dance smash You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) has become a standard among the best LGBTQ+ songs. His breakthrough might have been better timed – disco was already running out of steam by that point – and, while some club success would continue, Sylvester’s commercial fortunes were in decline almost at once. 1979’s Living Proof captures him at his most authentic; it’s a live recording of an opera-house gig in the star’s hometown of San Francisco that was paired with new studio recordings. A cover of the Patti LaBelle standard You Are My Friend is one of the album’s highlights, but this is an outstanding record of a colourful talent captured just before the HIV and AIDS crisis began to dim all the lights… That virus would claim Sylvester in late 1988.

Must hear: Can’t Stop Dancing

9: Years & Years: ‘Night Call’ (2022)

The final album to date from the group Years & Years, Night Call is an Olly Alexander solo project in all but name. It maintained the act’s focus on electro-pop and dance music which had helped them break so big with the 2015 UK chart-topper King. That year’s Communion and 2018’s Palo Santo were both critical and commercial hits, while this largely overlooked gem seemed to get a bit lost, despite the glorious singles Crave (with a very modern take on sexual tension) and Starstuck, and a UK chart-topping performance to boot. A Kylie duet, A Second To Midnight, was added to the deluxe edition of Night Call alongside the “Princess Of Pop”’s contribution to a remix of Starstruck. Much of Alexander’s fierce identity can be seen gaining confidence in this bold, individual record. His brilliant Eurovision Song Contest appearance in 2024 certainly takes inspiration from here.

Must hear: Starstruck

8: Pet Shop Boys: ‘Very’ (1993)

For Britain’s most successful musical duo, sexuality has always been at the heart of the work, even though the pair’s 80s output required something of a context to connect all the dots. By 1993, vocalist Neil Tennant had come out to gay magazine Attitude and, with the AIDS crisis still raging, it was time for a more direct, perhaps softly political, approach. It paid off commercially: Very is the only Pet Shop Boys album to top the British charts, and the narrative was obvious from the get-go. Can You Forgive Her? chronicles a coming-out tale; Go West (the band’s biggest hit of the decade) is, of course, a Village People cover; while the idea for the track Dreaming Of The Queen is that the song’s narrator has AIDS. “What’s quite different about this album is that a lot of it is stories,” Tennant said of this entry among the best LGBTQ+ albums.

Must hear: Can You Forgive Her?

7: Tom Robinson Band: ‘Power In The Darkness’ (1978)

Although male homosexual activity in the UK had been partially decriminalised in 1967, the 70s remained a dark time in regard to social attitudes, not to mention the behaviour of bodies such as the police and the lack of wider personal protections that we would recognise today. Tom Robinson (and his band) became a beacon of light in that gloom, and, although this pivotal ten-track debut album doesn’t include his anthem (Sing If You’re) Glad To Be Gay, Power In The Darkness is a feisty reminder that politics played a major part in Robinson’s music right from the off. This 1978 release was a sizeable commercial success (Top 5 in the UK) and packed its campaigning in punchy radio-friendly rock. There’s more being championed here than just gay rights, but Robinson wears his heart on his sleeve – and everyone knew who might capture it back in those less enlightened times.

Must hear: Up Against The Wall

6: Rufus Wainwright: ‘Poses’ (2001)

Incredible to think this landmark album is already more than 20 years old and showcases a brilliant, gay singer-songwriter on only his second studio collection (his self-titled debut came out in 1998). Written in New York City, Poses was pitched as a broader, more accessible collection than its predecessor, as evidenced in a range of production partners, including Greg Wells (Elton John, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift) and Ethan Jones (Kaiser Chiefs, Paul McCartney). The melodrama of In A Graveyard contrasts brilliantly with the theatrical Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk (echoes of Lionel Bart in this one, which we mean as a major compliment). It’s all beautifully observed, and while it has traces of the swagger of, say, a Robbie Williams, this is a uniquely delicate and nuanced time capsule among the best LGBTQ+ albums. Winning a GLAAD (Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Award for Best Album, Poses hints at the genius that would be exposed in future releases.

Must hear: Poses

5: Tracy Chapman: ‘Tracy Chapman’ (1988)

The June 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert was another example of the era’s showcase musical events, featuring a decent sweep of the legends (Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder) and the of-the-moments (Derek B and Fat Boys). Tracy Chapman was the show’s breakout act, performing her classic Fast Car on the day and seeing sales of her self-titled debut album soar immediately after (the record had been released in April that year and would top the Billboard chart in her US homeland in August).

Fast Car is the track everyone remembers: it went Top 10 in both the UK and the US, was later covered by Luke Combs, and won Chapman a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. But the album’s other ten tracks are equally exquisite, including Talkin’ Bout A Revolution and Baby, Can I Hold You Tonight? – all have fire in their bellies about a range of social issues. The record won Chapman a second Grammy, for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and its creator was also named Best New Artist at the same awards ceremony. She maintains a discretion about her private life to this day, but it was clear what she was talking about when she said revolution…

Must hear: Talkin’ Bout A Revolution

4: Kylie Minogue: ‘Aphrodite’ (2010)

Almost any of the Australian megastar’s records might be eligible for this list of the best LGBTQ+ albums. Her Stock Aitken Waterman breakthroughs (Kylie and Enjoy Yourself) already had half an ear on what would work in the gay clubs, and then 1990’s Better The Devil You Know became the anthem that sealed Kylie Minogue’s status as an LGBTQ+ icon adored by a community that had adopted her as its own from the outset.

2010’s Aphrodite was her 11th studio album and was executive-produced by Stuart Price, who had helmed Madonna’s Confessions On A Dance Floor, an album which had reset the “Queen Of Pop”’s career yet again five years earlier. Aphrodite also contains arguably Kylie’s finest 21st-century single, All The Lovers (although it’s outranked in sales terms by 2001’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head). The video for All The Lovers created a visual interpretation of the sort of universal love and acceptance that Kylie has made her trademark. Elsewhere, the album offers collaborations with Calvin Harris, Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, and Starsmith (Ellie Goulding and Jess Glynne). The supporting tour, complete with water fountains, saw Kylie at her most theatrically flamboyant.

Must hear: All The Lovers

3: Troye Sivan: ‘Something To Give Each Other’ (2023)

With the unambiguous, sexually charged Rush – just check out its video – Troye Sivan set the tone for an album seeped in “sex, dance and sweat”. The electro-pop of much of his back catalogue remained in evidence on Something To Give Each Other, but the erotic themes first explored on 2018’s My My My! were more explicit than ever. Rush did even better business than that hit track, and its parent album represented something of a new creative and commercial benchmark for the Australian who was still less than a decade into his mainstream recording career. From its eye-catching cover art (it got replaced – aka banned – in some markets) to Grammy nods and ARIA wins, Something To Give Each Other is rarely a tease; this goes all the way. And, while gay men’s sexuality is a spectrum of choice and activity, it has rarely had an outing quite as raw and celebratory as this. You can almost sniff the amyl nitrate…

Must hear: Rush

2: Madonna: ‘Erotica’ (1992)

Madonna shaped her identity in the gay clubs of the US East Coast, most notably in the boiling creative cauldron of early-80s New York, and with the many friends she made there. She lost some of them to AIDS, and was routinely criticised for staging provocative performances that played up to sexual and stereotypical caricatures as her stardom went supernova. After a spell on the road and filming movies such as Dick Tracy and A League Of Their Own, she came back in late 1992 with the Erotica album, which she paired with the iconic Sex book, a collection of photos shot with Steven Meisel.

The (largely) Shep Pettibone-produced album has a lot to shout about, and much of it is about the obvious, exposing and shattering taboos as it goes. It positioned the “Queen Of Pop” right on the barricades of the bitter battle between the LGBTQ+ community and the wider social and political establishment that then appeared complacent in the face of a colossal human tragedy. Madonna’s almost-aggressive sexuality might have been tongue-in-cheek at times, but it was incredibly powerful. The wider public were aghast, the media went for the jugular, and her hardcore fanbase (still in its millions) lapped it all up. From its title track on through, Erotica remains the bravest career move by any pop megastar in history.

Must hear: Erotica

1: David Bowie: ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’ (1972)

David Bowie’s fifth studio album, an iconic project based on a bisexual rock star named Ziggy Stardust, is a landmark of so many things – storytelling, concept management and majestic songwriting among them. Following the release of Starman, the album’s lead single, Bowie created a two-man sexual revolution in the nation’s living rooms when he performed the song on the BBC’s Top Of The Pops. His homoerotic appearance made him a superstar and was provocative stuff for a 1972 teatime broadcast; numerous artists have recounted its impact, including Siouxsie Sioux, Robert Smith of The Cure and Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet.

Sort of glam, sort of rock and largely adrift of simple musical classification, this platinum-selling, 11-track collection would lead to a tour and inclusion in many “best-of” lists in its launch year, and it tops this rundown of the best LGBTQ+ albums with ease. Today, Bowie’s influence on almost everything in modern pop is understood, but his early work, at its magnificent first peak here, proved conclusively there was space for the strange – and sometimes even huge success to come with it. Every one of us owes Bowie a debt.

Must hear: Starman

Check out the most pioneering LGBTQ+ musicians in history.