Play with Pride: Celebrating Pride Month with LGBTQIA+ artists in the ROLI Learn app.
Light up your Piano M all the colors of the rainbow with iconic artists and timeless tracks
For centuries, people have used music as a limitless canvas for self-expression. Today, we’re celebrating the innovative and creative minds of the LGBTQIA+ community, who, through their artistry and unwavering desire to show their truest colors, have transformed the music of their times and continue to inspire artists to this day.
Queen — 'Don't Stop Me Now'
Immortalised in music history as arguably one of the greatest bands of all time, Queen changed just what it meant to be a rock band with their incorporation of opera, stage theatrics, and the inimitable stage presence of frontman Freddie Mercury.
When Mercury wasn’t commanding crowds in his iconic stance with a microphone in hand, he was captivating as an accomplished pianist, whether it he was performing songs like the gospel-inspired 'Somebody to Love', or the outright rock’n’roll classic, 'Don’t Stop Me Now'.
If you want more from Queen, there’s also 'I Want to Break Free', 'The Show Must Go On', 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'Seven Seas of Rhye', 'You’re My Best Friend', 'We Will Rock You', and 'Somebody to Love' available to play in the ROLI Learn app, so you, too, can channel your inner-Freddie!
David Bowie — 'Changes'
Throughout his many eras spanning over 50 years, Bowie’s on-stage personas and genre-defying 26 studio albums demonstrated his fearless desire to challenge the conventions of gender and sexuality, and he stood as a beacon of inspiration for queer artists for decades. Most notably, Bowie’s chameleon-like quality shone as he shifted from David Bowie of Hunky Dory to the iconic androgynous, bisexual alien rock star, Ziggy Stardust.
For our Pride playlist, we’re featuring the 1972 classic, 'Changes'. With piano played by Rick Wakeman of the prog rock band Yes, the song shifts time signatures from 4/4 to 2/4 and features art-pop flourishes, as well as a distinct syncopated piano riff that makes for a fun and challenging performance.
If you want to celebrate Pride with both Bowie and Queen, we’ve got their 80s collaboration 'Under Pressure' in the ROLI Learn app too, so you can hammer away at that iconic bassline.
Chappell Roan — 'Good Luck, Babe!'
Chappell Roan has seen a meteoric rise to superstardom unlike any other contemporary artist. Much like Bowie and Elton John before her, Roan takes the performance to new heights for the younger generation. With her powerhouse vocals at the forefront and a knack for writing catchy tunes, Roan infuses elements of retro maximalism, theatre, drag, and a touch of the medieval when it suits.
Significantly, as an openly lesbian artist, she is an important figure for queer youth today, and her experience both inspires and informs her music. On her Billboard 100 chart-topping single 'Good Luck, Babe!', Roan depicts the pressures of compulsory heterosexuality from the perspective of a queer woman. Play along with the song in the ROLI Learn app and enjoy the infectious 80s synth pop rhythms.
Sam Smith — 'Stay With Me'
Over the past decade since their debut, Sam Smith has garnered endless recognition for their music, including Grammy Awards in 2015, a Golden Globe for the Bond theme, 'Writing’s On The Wall', and the latest Grammy Award win in 2023 for their collaboration with Kim Petras. We’ve included 'Stay With Me' in our playlist, but you can play along with 'Writing’s On The Wall' if you want a little more espionage drama in your practice sessions.
Clairo — 'Sofia'
Among the younger generation of burgeoning queer artists, Claire Cotrill’s growth from lo-fi bedroom pop of her debut album Immunity, to her Grammy nomination for the 70s soul-infused melodies of her third record Charm, Clairo’s music has showcased the transformative growth of an artist finding their musical color through sound, and exploring the different facets of her identity.
On the song 'Sofia', Clairo celebrates the first crushes she had on women like Sofia Coppola and Sofia Vergara as she was beginning to discover her sexuality. In an interview with Coup De Main, Cotrill stated that she deliberately wanted to write an empowering song about her sexuality. “It was important to me that 'Sofia' was celebratory because it should be celebrated. At the end of the day, it’s something that I’m really proud of and I’m really happy that I can look at the world that way – that I can find beauty in women.”
Elton John — 'Rocket Man (I Think It's Gonna Be a Long Long Time)'
We would be remiss not to include one of the most iconic gay musicians and pianists of the last century in this list, and Elton John needs no introduction. One of the most impactful musicians across rock and pop music, Elton, along with his longtime collaborator and partner in rhyme Bernie Taupin, have been responsible for some of the most enduring ballads, rock anthems, and Disney theme songs. You can play along with 'Rocket Man' (as well as 'I’m Still Standing', 'Tiny Dancer' and 'Your Song') in the ROLI Learn app.
George Michael — 'Careless Whisper'
Since his musical beginnings as part of the 80s pop powerhouse Wham!, George Michael continued to garner love and adoration from fans globally in his solo pursuits, with hits including 'Faith', 'Fastlove', and 'Amazing'. 'Careless Whisper', originally released on Wham!’s second studio album Make It Big in 1984, has had an enduring legacy thanks to its instantly recognizable saxophone introduction, arguably one of the most recognizable saxophone leads in music history.
P. I. Tchaikovsky — 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'
Celebrated for his innate gift for melody and emotive power, Tchaikovsky is regarded as a Russian composer unlike any other in his time. A prolific composer across symphonies, operas, and perhaps his specialty, ballets, according to musicologist David Brown, “Tchaikovsky's gift for melody and orchestration, his ability to write memorable dance music with great fluency, and his responsiveness to a theatrical atmosphere made him uniquely qualified in writing for the genre.”
'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy' from The Nutcracker is among Tchaikovsky’s most beloved compositions, and one in which he introduced the Celesta to Russian music lovers for the first time in 1982. Try playing along with this song in the ROLI Learn app and changing the piano sound to the 'Music Box' to emulate the wind-up toy feel of the original ballet performance.
Samuel Barber — 'Adagio for Strings'
Samuel Barber is among the most revered contemporary American composers. Perhaps his most enduring piece, 'Adagio for Strings', is a masterclass in building emotional tension through melancholic yet beautiful lyrical phrasing. Since its debut in 1938, the piece has transformed from an unofficial theme of mourning to a dance music anthem. Of course, we’re playing the piece on piano, but you can change the instrument sound in the ROLI Learn app to ‘Orchestra Strings’ if you’d like to play something that sounds a little closer to how the piece was intended to be played.
Lady Gaga feat. Bruno Mars — 'Die with a Smile'
Influenced by glam rock artists like David Bowie, Elton John and Queen, and many more titans of musical performance such as Prince and Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga is celebrated as an artistic visionary with an inimitable ability to constantly reinvent herself and her music, with numerous accolades to her name including Golden Globes, Grammys, and recognition in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Gaga’s global status as a gay icon is unmatched, and she has long been a vocal advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, with 'Born This Way' standing as a universally acknowledged anthem for Pride. We’ve got her recent collaboration with Bruno Mars, 'Die With a Smile' in the ROLI Learn app, and you can also learn Gaga’s Grammy-nominated track 'Shallow' from A Star Is Born.
Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus — 'Old Town Road'
We can all remember where we were when 'Old Town Road' took the world by storm back in 2018. Riding high on the Western trend and leading the Yeehaw Agenda at the time, 'Old Town Road'’s viral success on TikTok propelled it into the Billboard charts and eventually reached the top. Speculation over the song’s country genre legitimacy sparked furious debate, but a subsequent collaboration with Billy Ray Cyrus put an end to questioning and further bolstered the song’s success.
From genre-defining sonic ingenuity to groundbreaking performance prowess, the contributions of these LGBTQIA+ artists, pianists, and composers have transformed the musical landscape and opened the doors for future generations of young queer artists to celebrate their unique artistry and talents with pride.
