
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Little Richard was rock ‘n’ roll’s flamboyant architect. Lesley Gore sang that no one owned her. Sylvester was a gender-fluid icon who helped define disco. Freddie Mercury made rock operatic, and George Michael demanded freedom.
What all of these LGBTQ artists had in common was bold hitmaking—and fear of being fully out of the closet. For decades, queer acts topped the charts while cloaking their true identities and paving the way for today’s more openly queer stars.
For Pride Month, join Chris Molanphy as he traces the hidden history of queer hitmakers on the charts—including those that managed to be both out and No. 1, right up through our modern age of Lil Nas X and Chappell Roan. It’s a celebration of these artists’ quest to feel… mighty real.
Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
By Slate Podcasts3.8
432432 ratings
Little Richard was rock ‘n’ roll’s flamboyant architect. Lesley Gore sang that no one owned her. Sylvester was a gender-fluid icon who helped define disco. Freddie Mercury made rock operatic, and George Michael demanded freedom.
What all of these LGBTQ artists had in common was bold hitmaking—and fear of being fully out of the closet. For decades, queer acts topped the charts while cloaking their true identities and paving the way for today’s more openly queer stars.
For Pride Month, join Chris Molanphy as he traces the hidden history of queer hitmakers on the charts—including those that managed to be both out and No. 1, right up through our modern age of Lil Nas X and Chappell Roan. It’s a celebration of these artists’ quest to feel… mighty real.
Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

38,544 Listeners

6,836 Listeners

9,242 Listeners

8,468 Listeners

7,858 Listeners

1,378 Listeners

3,551 Listeners

2,841 Listeners

998 Listeners

1,029 Listeners

59 Listeners

5,622 Listeners

14,677 Listeners

1,868 Listeners

53 Listeners

2,371 Listeners

32,402 Listeners

2,067 Listeners

236 Listeners

23,882 Listeners

1,285 Listeners

16,488 Listeners

1,197 Listeners

31,853 Listeners

448 Listeners

1,803 Listeners

16,372 Listeners

60 Listeners

48 Listeners

97 Listeners

6 Listeners

131 Listeners

0 Listeners

46 Listeners