Music
CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Photograph by Steve Shapiro
My father is a huge Bowie fan, and about the time I first got interested in what he was listening to, he pulled out the Diamond Dogs album. The cover was just so cool and trippy and weird. At that point I was really into Halloween and costumes, and when my dad played me the album, I thought, Oh, it's a Halloween thing. I was maybe 8 or 9, but I didn't really start appreciating Bowie for myself until my early twenties, when I was getting into glam rock. A light bulb went off--I wasn't into drag, I didn't want to dress like a woman, but I wanted to express my gender and artistic identity differently than the mainstream. Bowie was a key inspiration.
It was about the androgyny of mixing it up, and that was what was so incredible about his concepts -- he was one of the first rock stars to really push the idea that sexuality was not black and white but an exploration. Later, when he finally made his big American breakthrough in the '80s working with Nile Rodgers on Let's Dance, his image shifted to a more masculine sensibility. Considering how far he had pushed it the decade previous, however, it gave his masculinity an edgy and mysterious undercurrent. I actually love Young Americans so much because it was the album where he jumped into Philly soul and it got very funky and rhythmic; to hear someone with his sensibility going to that place is really inspiring.
WATCH: David Bowie perform 'Young Americans' live on the Dick Cavett Show in 1974
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
38 Male Celebs Who Did Full Frontal Scenes
November 17 2023 5:18 PM
These are all the celebrities Who came out as LGBTQ+ in 2023
December 31 2023 12:19 PM
29 LGBTQ+ celebs you can follow on OnlyFans
April 18 2024 1:00 PM
26 actors who showed bare ass in movies & TV shows
February 28 2024 1:50 PM
16 times male celebrities had to say they weren't gay
April 17 2024 11:57 AM
21 LGBTQ+ reality dating shows & where to watch them
April 03 2024 4:01 PM
15 Unforgettable Gay Kissing Scenes From TV & Movies
February 14 2024 10:20 AM
14 queens who quit or retired from drag after 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
April 04 2024 12:56 PM
40 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads we'll always be thirsty for
January 04 2024 10:54 AM
The 15 Best LGBTQ+ Movies of 2023
December 04 2023 10:32 AM
Watch Now: The Daily
Trending stories from our video partner Advocate Channel.
For more videos and shows go to advocatechannel.com.
Trending stories from our video partner Advocate Channel.
For more videos and shows go to advocatechannel.com.
Latest Stories
April 24, 2024
16h
A timeline of every winner of 'RuPaul's Drag Race' around the world
April 23 2024 10:36 PM
9 milestones & records that prove 'Drag Race' season 16 was HERSTORIC
April 23 2024 5:08 PM
Was Joel Kim Booster ACTUALLY heckled on stage? Here's what he had to say!
April 23 2024 4:28 PM
'Drag Race' fans are SHOOK by Magnolia Crawford's new out-of-drag pics
April 23 2024 4:14 PM
Manu Ríos & André Lamoglia's reunion is sending 'Élite' fans into a pit of thirst
April 23 2024 1:40 PM
Meet the queens of 'All Stars 9' — and the charities they'll be competing for
April 23 2024 12:00 PM