OUT100: Andy Bell

Photography by JUCO | Retouching by Anna Glen at Wet Noodle

The Moment: 1968: The Naked Civil Servant, volume one of Quentin Crisp's autobiography, is published.

Pioneering Erasure frontman Andy Bell came out as gay in 1986 and as HIV-positive in 2004. But one particularly surreal turning point from the singer's 20s has stuck with him. "It was one of my first gay prides in the U.K., and I remember seeing Divine singing on a barge on the River Thames, and Sinead O'Connor asking me to look after her little boy." That same bittersweet rush Bell experienced has defined tracks like "A Little Respect" and "Always," just two of the euphoric synth-pop classics he's performed with longtime musical partner Vince Clarke. In September, Erasure released its 16th studio album, The Violet Flame, and kicked off a worldwide tour that began just after Bell wrapped his Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, Torsten the Bareback Saint, about an "age-defying polysexual."

Photographed at ACME Studio, Brooklyn on September 15, 2014

Styling by Michael Cook. Groomer: Angela DiCarlo. Fashion Assistant: Taja Whitted. Shirt and blazer by Burberry London. Scarf by Burberry Prorsum. Hats by Bailey of Hollywood

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