"Sure, why can't [gays] get married? They should suffer like the rest of us do."
-- Dolly Parton speaking out about loving her gay fans (she also said she shares a kinship with them because, "...they know I'm different too, and it took me a long time to be accepted,") on The Joy Behar Show.
> Taking the words right out of the mouth of James "It's performance art" Franco, Lady Gaga (above, performing at Saturday's MOCA NEW 30th anniversary gala in L.A.) explains her appearance on tonight's episode of Gossip Girl thusly:"It’s very performance art." The lady will provide a "fashion montage"/rendition of "Bad Romance" set at her real-life alma matter NYU in an episode fittingly titled "The Last Days of Disco Stick."
> Funny lady and friend of the gays Kathy Griffin is crossing over... to crime drama. She'll appear on the February 10 episode of Law and Order: SVUplaying a "lesbian activist."
While performing her hit song "7 Things" in Kentucky the other night, Miley Cyrus made a curious last-minute lyric swap. Instead of singing "The 7 things I hate about you / oh you you're vain / your games, you're insecure" as she usually does, the most famous 16-year-old in the world belted out "oh you you're vain / you're gay..."
Was it just an innocent slip of the tongue or does Miley need to get schooled by Hilary Duff? And more importantly, if she meant it, is she talking about Justin Gaston? Because we'd be happy to have him come over to the homo side.
Previously > Hummer: Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" Video
The video for "Bad Romance," the first single from Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster, the re-release of her debut album The Fame packed with eight new tracks and due out on November 24, debuted today and it's nothing short of fan-fucking-tastic. Since arriving on the scene a little over a year ago, Gaga has been known for her berserkly spectacle-acular fashion, videos, and performances and "Bad Romance" proves that while some naysayers think her initial success was a fluke, she apparently always has more to give, push, and/or peddle and isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
The pop star recently told MTV, "there’s this one shot in the video where I get kidnapped by
supermodels... I’m washing away my sins and they shove vodka down my
throat to drug me up before they sell me off to the Russian mafia,” but that's only the beginning. With Gaga as the queen leading her colony of white vinyl humanoids through a variation of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance routine, a pink-tressed Gaga with giant anime eyes, a polar bearskin rug worn as a cape (among 48,532 other costume changes), and the return of her famous flame-throwing bra from her Much Music Awards performance (this time used for a much more nefarious purpose than merely entertaining her fans), the video left me wanting a cigarette, a shower, a nap, and another 18 hours of footage.
To see our '50s B horror movie–inspired photo shoot with Gaga from our September issue, click here.
To read our September Lady Gaga cover story, click here.
> Hasbro is poking a stick at one of the few nostalgic pop culture stones left unturned by the recent flurry of remakes, revisions, and sequels -- it's resuscitated the licensing rights to Jem and the Holograms! At the moment no one has any idea exactly what this means -- there might be plans for either a movie or a TV series which may or may not have aHigh School Musical scriptwriter and/or the director of something amazing and bizarre looking called The Secret of the Magic Gourdattached.But we already know that Samantha Newark, voice of the original Jem, is ready for her comeback!
Britain's 72-year-old grand dame of the music, Shirley Bassey, is set to release her first all-new record in more than 20 years tomorrow. The Performance, produced by James Bond soundtrack genius David Arnold, features songs written especially for the singer by a gaggle of some of the most famous gay (and/or gay adjacent) musicians currently recording including The Pet Shop Boys, Rufus Wainwright, KT Tunstall and Take That's Gary Barlow. The album isn't due out in the U.S. until early next year, so if you want a copy of it now hit up Amazon.com or get the import at your favorite local record store.
Billboard: You've had compilations and remix albums, but this
is your first all-new record in more than 20 years. Is that because the
material wasn't right for you before? Shirley Bassey:
Well, not only that. I'd really retired, to tell you the truth, and was
just coming out for special occasions. These writers have brought me
back. Only that could have done it, and it was a challenge, because you
wouldn't have thought they were my songs. I took them on holiday with
me, and I would say, "I can't do this, they're too difficult." But I
was listening to the way the writers were singing them, and trying to
sing in their key, which never helps. It wasn't until I actually went
into the studio, with a piano, and put my voice on, that I started to
get excited. I could hear myself. I'm always up for a challenge, and it
paid off.
Billboard: Why do you think you still draw big crowds and have a loyal fan base after all these years? Bassey: My down-to-earthness, I think. But if I knew what makes
success, I'd bottle it. That's the magic of this business -- you don't
know why you're successful. Those critics who say it's an all-gay
audience ... not at all. There's mums and dads, and their children
bring their children, so it's a family audience.
Billboard: Do you have a favorite song on the album? Bassey: I love all of them. But the Pet Shop Boys' song ("The
Performance of My Life") got right into my head and made me sob, and
not many songs do that. You can get too carried away with a song,
especially onstage, but you can't be crying during every one. When I
heard that, after doing all the other songs, it was just too much for
me. I don't need to write a book. The record is my autobiography.
Today we bring you two honorees from the 2009 "School Days" Out 100 -- this year's look at the 100 gay, lesbian, and trans people who have impacted gay and mainstream culture in the past 12 months -- Kehinde Wiley and Bebe Zahara Benet.
Since finishing an MFA at Yale in 2001, the New York–based artist Wiley (above, left) has shot to meteoric critical and commercial success, fusing highbrow art and hip-hop culture by recreating classic late-Renaissance portraits with young men plucked from city streets. In September, his show “Black Light” debuted at Deitch Projects, following the publication of a monograph of the same name.
Nea Marshall Kudi’s drag persona, Bebe Zahara Benet (above, right) was born when, while working a Parisian runway, the male model was asked to fill in for female models who’d gone MIA. Raised in the West African Republic of Cameroon, Marshall took the pole position on RuPaul’s Drag Race in March and is preparing to release his first EP.
We'll continue to roll out more honorees from the 2009 Out 100 in the coming days and in mid-November the full portfolio, shot by renowned photographer Jason Bell, will be available in stores and online.
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