This Friday, we have some tragic news to report: Jill Sobule, the bisexual singer-songwriter behind the 1995 sapphic anthem "I Kissed a Girl," has died in a tragic house fire at the age of 66.
Sobule's song, which came out 13 years before Katy Perry's song of the same name, is a curious and fun-spirited song about finding happiness in unexpected places.
"I kissed a girl, her lips were sweet / She was just like kissing me / I kissed a girl, won't change the world / But I'm so glad / I kissed a girl," she sings.
In a 1995 interview with Out, Sobule said, "I remember having a crush on a girl in junior high school, but I still liked boys very much, and I remember feeling really bad about the crush. If I would have heard a song like 'I Kissed a Girl' it would have made me feel better. Wouldn't it have made you feel better?"
Sobule's song was "the first song with blatantly queer themes to break the Billboard Top 20," according to GLAAD, and opened the doors for sapphic and lesbian artists of all types.
Before there was Hayley Kiyoko's "Girls Like Girls," Billie Eilish's "Lunch," Janelle Monáe's "Lipstick Lover," and Chappell Roan's entire discography, there was Jill Sobule's "I Kissed a Girl."
Keep reading to find out the gayest song of the week, and all the best pop culture news.
- Mey Rude
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Gayest Song of the Week
Green Day
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The Gayest Song of this Week comes from punk band Green Day, led by bisexual singer Billie Joe Armstrong. Their new single "Ballyhoo" is a super catchy punk romp off the deluxe Saviors album.
