# Music groups with openly gay members? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2005, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899 "2005-11-27T07:47:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/21 "2005-11-27T16:40:22Z")
Neil Gust of Heatmiser. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/22 "2005-11-27T17:33:53Z")
Doug Pinnick of King’s X Then there’s that gay Teletubby… ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/23 "2005-11-27T17:36:59Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Didn’t Halford come out after he left JP? Yes, but he’s back with them now and touring. Or at least was recently. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/24 "2005-11-27T17:38:37Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Didn’t Halford come out after he left JP? Yes, but then he rejoined just a couple years ago. ---
**Author:** ![lost\_in\_cyberspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6a8cbe/32.png) [@lost\_in\_cyberspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost_in_cyberspace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/25 "2005-11-27T17:41:44Z")
Jann Arden, she doesn’t hide it, but most people don’t know ---
**Author:** ![Roberta\_Plant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c89c15/32.png) [@Roberta\_Plant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roberta_Plant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/26 "2005-11-27T17:52:42Z")
The members of Bronski Beat. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/27 "2005-11-27T18:10:17Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I thought that in the cases of The Village People, Queen, and Liberace, there was a sort of don’t ask, don’t tell thing going on. Even though the writing was on the wall, the subject never really came up. People just assumed they were straight. And I thought that Elton stayed in the closet for decades and only recently came out. In the case of Queen, yes. While Freddie played the ‘catch me as you can’ game he never openly acknowledged his orientation until the early 80s when Frankie Goes to Hollywood became popular. I can recall the interview where he was asked about them and he dismissed their being gay making them ‘special’ because he’d done all that already. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/28 "2005-11-27T18:15:22Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > And I thought that Elton stayed in the closet for decades and only recently came out. He proclaimed he was bisexual in the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/29 "2005-11-27T18:20:50Z")
B-52s, of course An English group called Boyzone, which was a one-hit wonder AFAIK There are perpetual rumors about members of several boybands (NSync, Backstreet Boys, etc.) but nothing ever confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/30 "2005-11-27T18:26:12Z")
IIRC Pete Townsend of the Who is gay John Lennon was bisexual [Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates](http://www.hallandoates.com/) is gay Peter Allen is gay Cole Porter was gay Insane Clown Posse mostly gay (but deeply closeted) ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/31 "2005-11-27T18:38:20Z")
> [@zoogirl](#): > > ``` > I've heard a lot of rumours about Joan Jett. > > ``` She came out in the 90s, I think. Jonsi Birgisson of Sigur Ros. Ma Rainey was bisexual, as was Bessie Smith; they may have been lovers. Kathleen Hanna of Le Tigre and Bikini Kill. David Bowie’s bisexual, of course. I think Lou Reed may be as well. Oh, and a couple members of Sleater-Kinney are lesbians, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/32 "2005-11-27T18:48:48Z")
> [@astro](#): > > IIRC > > Pete Townsend of the Who is gay > > John Lennon was bisexual Pete Townsend lives with a girlfriend at the moment. He may be bi, but I don’t think he’s out, if so. The rumors about Lennon and (definitely gay) producer Brian Epstein go way back (see [indie flick The Hours and Times](http://imdb.com/title/tt0104448/) for a fictional take on their possible brief affair), but I’ve never heard it confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/33 "2005-11-27T18:51:06Z")
[/QUOTE] Pete Townsend of the Who is gay [QUOTE] So, I guess [Rachel Fuller](http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/58a/5cc/58a5cc1d-6813-4e48-8e67-e425ecefd35d) must be a man, then? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/34 "2005-11-27T18:51:47Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Pete Townsend of the Who is gay > > John Lennon was bisexual Unlikely. Townshend has often dropped hints, and once impulsively spoke about his “gay life” in an interview, but subsequently claimed this was misinterpreted, and has more or less denied being gay or bisexual. With Lennon there’s nothing to go on but dubious rumors, and the OP was asking for openly gay artists. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/35 "2005-11-27T19:05:33Z")
> [@Biffy the Elephant Shrew](#): > > Unlikely. Townshend has often dropped hints, and once impulsively spoke about his “gay life” in an interview, but subsequently claimed this was misinterpreted, and has more or less denied being gay or bisexual. > > With Lennon there’s nothing to go on but dubious rumors, and the OP was asking for openly gay artists. RE Townshend it appears you are correct [A story of child porn, drugs and rock’n’roll](http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=712&id=42502003) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/36 "2005-11-27T19:09:53Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates is gay Was that during the almost thirty years he spent with his girlfriend Sara Allen, with whom he had a son? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/37 "2005-11-27T19:10:13Z")
Chuck and John Panozzo were the rhythm section of Styx. Drummer John died a few years back, and bassist Chuck came out of the closet shortly afterward. Chuck also acknowledged publicly that he has HIV, but says medications have kept it under control pretty well. I don’t KNOW that John was gay, but since there’s definitely a genetic factor in determining hjomsexuality, I wouldn’t be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/38 "2005-11-27T19:14:19Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Chuck and John Panozzo were the rhythm section of Styx. > > Drummer John died a few years back, and bassist Chuck came out of the closet shortly afterward. Chuck also acknowledged publicly that he has HIV, but says medications have kept it under control pretty well. > > I don’t KNOW that John was gay, but since there’s definitely a genetic factor in determining hjomsexuality, I wouldn’t be surprised. Oh, since I didn’t mention it in the earlier post, CHuck and John Panozzo of Styx were identical twin brothers. So, if Chuck is gay, it’s not unlikely John was, too. As for Daryl Hall, I recall reading a Hall & Oates interview in Rolling Stone about twenty years ago, in which the reporter asked if Daryl Hall & John Oates were lovers. Darryl admitted having some bisexual tendencies, but said he hadn’t been involved with a male in many years. And, he added, if he WERE still actively bisexual, he still wouldn’t be attracted to John Oates, who he said (with a straight face) “isn’t my type.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/39 "2005-11-27T19:34:31Z")
Leslie Gore, which I guess means now it’s Johnny’s turn to cry. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899/40 "2005-11-27T20:35:51Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates is gay Daryl admitted to a homosexual experience in his teens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-groups-with-openly-gay-members/332899.md?page=3)