The queer women of pop music are finally getting their recognition

Kate Hovey / V Mag at UVA

In a matter of months, Chappell Roan’s debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” brought her fame to a meteoric level. The inventive and novel sound combined with a powerhouse voice, iconic style and striking self-assuredness while singing about loving another woman took the music world by storm. But Roan is just one of many queer women changing the face of pop music and finally getting her well-deserved kudos — though her meteoric rise hasn’t been without its share of drama.

Queer women in music have an extensive but often overshadowed history in America. The blues of the early 20th century saw trailblazers Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Gladys Bentley vocalize songs with unprecedented feminist messages and suggestive displays, such as wearing men’s clothing. The former two emerged in the Deep South during the Harlem Renaissance. Ma Rainey’s “Prove it on Me Blues” croons, “It must’ve been women / ’cause I don’t like no men.” Using double entendres and subtle references, these women bravely expressed forbidden desire and quietly rebelled against a starkly homophobic landscape.

In the rock ’n’ roll ’60s, music festivals and radio programs often overlooked openly queer women. For this reason, legends like Joan Jett, Janis Joplin, Janis Ian and Joan Baez were not publicly identified as queer until late in their careers in order to book gigs. Dusty Springfield first shrugged off rumors about her own sexuality until admitting to being in a relationship with singer-songwriter Norma Tanega.

As queer singers came into the spotlight, a broader feminism movement also supported their work. The “first feminist music festival” took place in 1973 in Sacramento, Calif. and represented more complicated understandings of womanhood in music. Lilith Fair launched in 1997, piloting an all-female program that featured Indigo Girls, Sarah McLachlan and others.

Through the decades, queer women artists fought the media’s pressure to silence their sexual identities and battled the tendency to favor straight artists. Changing social environments and increasing inclusivity opened the doors for more artists to openly express their queerness. Today, the music world has come farther than Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” in 2008 — the industry is now seeing a sapphic pop renaissance.

Women are singing openly and proudly about their same-sex relationships. In 2018, King Princess threw innuendo out the window with the song “Pussy is God.” MUNA’s biggest hit compares “Silk Chiffon” to “how it feels, oh, when she’s on me.” In “Red Wine Supernova,” Roan belts, “She did it right there, out on the deck / Put her canine teeth in the side of my neck.”

“I could eat that girl for lunch / Yeah, she dances on my tongue,” Billie Eilish sings in the 2024 hit “LUNCH.”

Queer female artists have also bent traditional gender norms in their performance. Singer Brandi Carlile is known for her exuberant style and wearing suits in a way reminiscent of Gladys Bentley. Miley Cyrus often wears extravagant outfits, even performing on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2021.Known for the extravagant outfits she wears while performing, Roan takes inspiration primarily from drag — as well as horror movies, burlesque, and theater — to create breathtaking appearances characterized by stunning, over-the-top makeup and beautifully flamboyant costumes.

Today, contemporary queer artists like Renee Rapp, girl in red, Billie Eilish, Janelle Monae, boygenius and MUNA are claiming spaces on some of the biggest stages in the world. Roan broke records in August after attracting the largest-ever crowd at Lollapalooza. But while more attention means larger fanbases and higher chart numbers, it also means more critical eyes. 

At the All Things Go festival in Washington D.C., Renee Rapp kissed her partner, Towa Bird, onstage. The two women officially launched their relationship after touring together on the “Snow Hard Feelings” tour. Rapp has not been shy about her sexuality in the public eye. She played a queer character in the HBO show “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” and the lyrics to her song “Not My Fault” include the line, “Can a gay girl get an amen?” But while they have come around to support her in the long run, fans originally pressured her to come out as lesbian after questioning her bisexuality.

Early queer music made by queer artists was mostly enjoyed by queer fans and indie audiences. Now, this music and these artists have reached wider audiences and gained popular appeal with the infiltration of pop.

Queer women artists are selling out tours, headlining large music festivals, and demanding the attention they deserve. At the same time, smaller artists such as Angie McMahon, Karin Ann and Sammy Copley are following in the lead of these mainstream breakouts. The queer women artists of the past would no doubt be proud to see the changing attitudes toward modern artists who unapologetically highlight their sexualities.