Celebrate Pride with nearly 200 years of LGBTQIA+ history in the ROLI Learn app.

Pioneers

Coming out remains a difficult and dangerous process for millions of LGBTQIA+ people today, but before the 20th century, things were even tougher in many parts of the world. The sexualities of the composers we’ve highlighted below are, to this day, contested by historians — due in no small part to the extreme discretion with which they were required to conduct their day-to-day lives;  their sexuality was viewed as a criminal offence in much of Europe, and punishable by death until 1861 in England. Later laws about “gross indecency” and similar offences kept many gay men closeted well into the 20th century. 

Given that this is a modern retrospective, it’s worth bearing in mind that some of the terminology we’ve used in this article would not have been applied in the same way during the eras in which these composers lived. The word "homosexuality" itself didn't exist until 1869. Language, like attitudes, has changed significantly over the past two centuries.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Given the prevailing social attitudes — and legal restrictions — of the time, there are very few 19th-century composers whose homosexuality is well documented and largely agreed upon by modern scholars. Tchaikovsky, who left us numerous letters about his life and loves, is perhaps the most notable exception. The claim that his death was the result of suicide by poison in the wake of a scandal involving a male lover, however, is far more contested. 

Despite the 1812 Overture being one of the Russian composer's best-known today, Tchaikovsky himself disliked it, considering it far too loud and noisy. Thankfully, modern technology allows us to adjust the volume while practicing.

Camille Saint-Saëns

Unlike Tchaikovsky, French composer Camille Saint-Saëns’s orientation is still the subject of some debate. We do know that he was briefly, and unhappily, married to a woman, Marie-Laure Truffot, and had two children — both of whom died at a young age. He left his wife in 1881 and subsequently spent a great deal of time visiting Algeria, a popular destination among gay men of the time. 

The spooky-sounding Danse Macabre, Saint-Saëns popular symphonic poem based on lyrics by Henri Cazalis, tells the story of death, who appears at midnight and plays his fiddle for a crowd of dancing skeletons — scary indeed. 

Franz Schubert

Evidence for Schubert’s homosexuality revolves around a series of extremely affectionate letters addressed to male friends, former roommate Johann Mayrhofer and poet Franz von Schober. Despite these primary sources, the debate continues to this day. 

“Ständchen”, or “serenade” in English, is a song based on a poem by Ludwig Rellstab, told from the perspective of a lover calling for their partner. Schubert’s incredible gift for melody has made it one of his most performed pieces, and it remains popular at concerts to this day.

Frédéric Chopin 

Another composer whose sexuality remains fiercely contested more than a century after his death is Frédéric Chopin. His nine-year relationship with Novelist George Sand is well known, but his most explicit declarations of love in writing were directed exclusively towards men — activist and patron Tytus Woyciechowski and pianist/copyist Julian Fontana. 

“Tristesse”, as critics have nicknamed the Étude above, was said by Chopin himself to contain the most beautiful melody he’d ever written — and we’d be hard pressed to disagree.

Visibility in rock and pop

The 1969 Stonewall riots in New York are broadly considered the catalyst for what has become the modern LGBTQIA+ rights movement. In their wake, a growing number of famous figures, particularly in music and the wider entertainment industry, began publicly coming out. Despite a clear political and cultural shift, queer visibility was still very new and considered highly transgressive by men, with oppressive counter movements gathering steam throughout the 1970s and ‘80s. 

1981 saw the first reports of a new disease that had begun to claim lives at an alarming rate, particularly among gay men. By the middle of the decade, AIDS was having a devastating effect on LGBTQIA+ communities — and the death toll in the USA alone reached more than 700,000 by the year 2000. Despite intense stigma and indifference — or even outright suppression — among authorities including the Reagan administration, the crisis gave rise to a new wave of queer activism and visibility.

Elton John

Coming out in a 1976 Rolling Stone interview, Elton John was the first true pop megastar to openly identify as bisexual (he later stated that he was “quite comfortable about being gay” in a 1992 interview with the same publication). Since then, he’s been a major figurehead for various LGBTQIA+ movements around the world and a prominent HIV and AIDS philanthropist. 

Rocket Man, written by John and his long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin, was inspired by Ray Bradbury’s short story The Rocket Man and became one of his most enduring songs. Yet another Rolling Stone feature ranked it among the top 150 songs of all time in 2021. 

Freddie Mercury

It’s well known today that Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was bisexual, but this was never publicly disclosed during his life. He came out, reportedly, to his former partner Mary Austin and his band in the 1970s, but refused to confirm — nor outright deny — rumours around his sexuality when questioned by the press. In 1991, just one day before his untimely death, Mercury disclosed that he had been living with AIDS and urged his fans to join him in the fight against the disease. 

Written not by Mercury, but Queen’s bassist John Deacon, “I Want to Break Free” was a hit on its release in 1984 — and a massively controversial one in some parts of the world owing to its drag theme. Since then it’s been adopted as an anti-apartheid song in South Africa and more broadly as a queer-liberation anthem. 

George Michael

Between coming out as gay in 1998 and his death in 2016, Wham! singer George Michael became a highly active and visible campaigner for LGBTQIA+ rights and HIV/AIDS awareness. 

Credited to “Wham! featuring George Michael” in the US, but solely to Michael in his native UK, 1984’s “Careless Whisper” remains one of the best-selling singles of all time. The now-iconic saxophone line reportedly came to Michael while sitting on a bus on his way to work. Not possessing a recorder at the time, he had to hum the tune repeatedly for the rest of his journey to ensure he didn’t forget it.

Boy George

New Romantic style icon Boy George officially came out as gay in 1995 with the publication of his autobiography Take It Like a Man. But it was 12 years earlier that his band Culture Club’s biggest hit “Karma Chameleon” told the story of his tumultuous and then-secret relationship with drummer Jon Moss. 

The song, George later said, was about “the terrible fear of alienation that people have, the fear of standing up for one thing.” The song won a BRIT Award and earned the band a Grammy after spending six weeks at number one in the UK — making it the biggest-selling single of 1983 — and three weeks at the top of the US charts in early 1984.

Madonna

Whether Madonna herself is queer or just a pioneering ally remains a matter of some discussion, but her status as a gay icon is indisputable — and deserving of at least an honorary place on this list. She has, on many occasions, acknowledged the outsized role the gay community has played in her incredible success and used her platform to champion many LGBTQIA+ causes over the years. 

Blending rock, pop, dance music, and even gospel, “Like a Prayer” was a critical and commercial success, topping charts around the world. Never one to shy away from controversy, Madonna released a video for the track that paired Catholic imagery with burning crosses and a kiss shared with a Black saint. The ensuing backlash — including a condemnation from the Vatican itself — has done little to dampen the song’s legacy. 

New voices

Since the turn of the millennium, the climate for LGBTQIA+ people in much of the Western world has changed for the better. Though homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of stigma prevail, the legal and cultural landscape has shifted significantly since the end of the 20th century. Same-sex marriage has become legal in the Netherlands, the UK, and — in a landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling — the United States; the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy that prevented openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual people from serving in the US military was repealed; and various queer identities have now gained legal protections in many Western countries. 

Culturally, the concept of a public “coming out” has increasingly been replaced by artists who openly embrace a queer identity from the outset — the word “queer” itself has largely been reclaimed by a community for whom it was once simply considered a slur. And the art itself has gradually brought narratives centred around queer experiences into the mainstream.

Despite such positive changes, the current political climate in the US and much of the West has begun to present new challenges and resurface discrimination and legislative hostility that many had hoped were behind us. The artists in this section, all current and highly visible, openly queer artists, are at the forefront of a movement that’s more important to support now — while hard-won freedoms are coming under increasing pressure — than at any time in recent history.

Lady Gaga

Openly identifying as bisexual since early in her career, Lady Gaga has long been a steadfast and vocal supporter of LGBTQIA+ rights, including marriage and adoption equality and the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell in the US. Her non-profit, the Born This Way Foundation frequently supports programmes specifically aiming to improve the mental health of young queer people. 

Shallow, her hit duet with Bradley Cooper from the 2018 movie A Star is Born, spent 45 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and helped make Gaga the first woman to win an Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Grammy in a single year.

Sam Smith

Sam Smith came out as gay in 2014, the same year their debut album In the Lonely Hour made them a global star, and as non-binary in 2019, adopting they/them pronouns. In 2023, they became the first openly non-binary artist to win a Grammy — fittingly, for "Unholy", a duet with trans artist Kim Petras.

The gospel-tinged "Stay With Me" swept the 2015 edition of the awards, winning both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. A decade later, Smith rewrote a piece of their own history, replacing the lyric "I'm just a man" with "baby understand" for the song’s tenth-anniversary re-release.

Lil Nas X

On 30 June 2019 — the final day of Pride Month — Lil Nas X came out as gay with "Old Town Road" sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100, making him the only artist in history to come out at number one. The song stayed there for a record-breaking 19 weeks in total, and the later remix with Billy Ray Cyrus made Lil Nas X the first openly gay Black male artist to win a Country Music Association Award.

But the track had already made headlines before any of this unfolded — Billboard controversially removed it from its Hot Country Songs chart, igniting a national debate about race and gatekeeping in country music. Two Grammys, the aforementioned CMA award, and hundreds of millions of streams later, there’s little question over who won the debate. 

Chappell Roan

Openly lesbian and styling her look on the drag queens of her adopted hometown of Los Angeles, Chappell Roan has placed queerness at the centre of her art from the very beginning. Upon accepting an award at the 2024 VMAs, she dedicated it "to all the queer and trans people who inspire pop", adding, "I'm one of you."

"Good Luck, Babe!" was Roan’s first top-five hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Aiming at “compulsory heterosexuality,” it’s a response to a woman who, in Roan's words, is "denying fate". The track earned nominations for both Record and Song of the Year at the 2025 Grammys — a ceremony that saw Roan take home the award for Best New Artist.

Clairo

Claire Cottrill, better known as Clairo, came out as bisexual in 2018, one year after her webcam-shot video for "Pretty Girl" catapulted her from bedroom-based hobbyist into an essential new voice in indie music.

"Sofia”, with its Eurodisco pulse, is a love song to the famous women Clairo was attracted to growing up (she’s named both Sofia Vergara and Sofia Coppola as inspirations for the track). "Know that you and I shouldn't feel like a crime," she sings in a line that has touched many of her young queer fans. “Sofia” was the textbook definition of a sleeper hit — it took more than a year for the single to spread from fan favourite to the mainstream charts, but it’s since been certified 2x platinum in the US.

Play something that moves you

Whether you yourself are queer, questioning, or simply an ally, you’ll find music from all the artists above waiting for you to learn in the ROLI Learn app — along with more than 1,000 other hits. What better way to celebrate pride than with your own rendition of one of your favourites?

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