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This is a Timeline of UK LGBT Music, created in connection with the theme of Music being adopted for LGBT History Month 2014.

Musicians born up to 1899

Blondel (c. 1155–1202) – minstrel, composer, possibly lover of King Richard I.
Mark Smeaton (c. 1512–1536) – young court musician executed for alleged adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn.
Arabella Hunt (1662–1705) – musician whose "husband" turned out to be a woman.
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) – said by Beethoven to be "the greatest composer that ever lived".
Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) – composer and suffragette.
Clement Harris (1871–1897) – composer, lover of Siegfried Wagner.
Edward J Dent (1876–1967) – Cambridge Professor of Music.
Roger Quilter (1877–1953) – composer of songs and light music.
John Ireland (1879–1962) – composer of chamber music.
Lord Berners (1883–1950) – eccentric composer, painter and novelist.
Fred Barnes (1885–1938) – music hall performer.
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988) – reclusive composer of piano works.
Ivor Novello (1893–1951) – singer, songwriter, composer of musical comedies.
Douglas Byng (1893–1987) – music hall artist and pantomime dame.
Sir Noël Coward (1899–1973) – actor, singer, playwright, composer.

Musicians born 1900–1929

Leslie Hutchinson, "Hutch" (1900–1969) – cabaret star.
Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989) – composer, sometime lover of Benjamin Britten.
Richard Addinsell (1904–1977) – composer of the Warsaw Concerto.
Sir Michael Tippett (1905–1998) – composer of A Child of Our Time.
Sir Peter Pears (1910–1986) – singer, life partner of Benjamin Britten.
Stanley Bate (1911–1959) – composer of symphonies and other works.
Benjamin Britten, Lord Britten, (1913–1976) – composer of Peter Grimes, founder of the Aldeburgh Festival.
Sir John Pritchard (1921–1989) – conductor, Musical Director of the Glyndebourne opera.
Noel Mewton-Wood (1922–1953) – concert pianist.
John Lanchbery (1923–2003) – composer and arranger of ballet music.
Angela Morley, previously Wally Stott (1924–2009) – composer for films and TV.
James Bernard (1925–2001) – composer for the Hammer horror films.
Johnny Brandon (born 1925) – singer and composer of stage musicals.
George Melly (1926–2007) – Jazz musician and writer.
Joe Meek (1929–1967) – record producer who composed the best-selling "Telstar".

Musicians born 1930–1949

Lionel Bart (1930–1999) – writer and composer of Oliver!
Peter Katin (1930–2015) – pianist and CHE supporter.
Malcolm Williamson (1931–2003) – Master of the Queen's Music.
Brian Epstein (1934–1967) – the man who discovered The Beatles.
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934–2016) – composer, Master of the Queen's Music.
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (1936–2012) – classical and film composer, jazz pianist.
Kathy Kirby (1938–2011) – blonde bombshell who sang Secret Love.
Dusty Springfield (1939–1999) – icon of the swinging sixties who sang "You don't have to say you love me".
Long John Baldry (1941–2005) – blues singer known for "Let the heartaches begin".
Patrick Fyffe (1942–200) – "Bracket" of Hinge and Bracket.
George Logan (born 1944) – "Hinge" of Hinge and Bracket.
Labi Siffre (born 1945) – poet, singer, author of "Something Inside So Strong".
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) – lead singer with Queen.
Sir Elton John (born 1947) – singer/songwriter who has sold over 250 million records.
David Bowie (born 1947) – influential singer and songwriter who has reinvented himself several times.
Dave Davies (born 1947) – singer and guitarist with The Kinks.
Mark Bunyan (born 1949) – cabaret artist, co-founder of the Pink Singers.
Paul Gambaccini (born 1949) – radio presenter with an encyclopaedic knowledge of music.

Musicians born 1950–1959

Stephen Oliver (1950–1992) – prolific opera composer.
Kris Kirk (1950–1993) – music journalist and gay activist.
Carole Pope (born 1950 – singer-songwriter who moved to Canada as a child.
Graham Johnson (born 1950) – pianist and accompanist.
Tom Robinson (born 1950) – writer of "Glad to be Gay".
Joan Armatrading (born 1950) – blues singer originally from St Kitts.
Rob Halford (born 1951) – lead singer with Judas Priest.
Andy Fraser (born 1952) – bassist with Free.
Billy Lyall (1953–1989) – one of the Bay City Rollers.
Richard Fairbrass (born 1953) – Lead singer with Right Said Fred.
Neil Tennant (born 1954) – half of the Pet Shop Boys.
Bobby Crush (born 1954) – pianist and singer.
Annie Whitehead (born 1955) – Jazz trombonist.
Les McKeown (1955-2021) – lead singer with the Bay City Rollers.
Peter Christopherson (1955–2010) – half of the experimental music group Coil.
Douglas P. (born 1956) – neo-folk musician performing as "Death in June".
Marc Almond (born 1957) – singer/songwriter.
Jennifer Maidman (born 1958) – musician, partner of Annie Whitehead.
Horse McDonald (born 1958) – singer/songwriter who fled homophobia in her home town.
Limahl (born 1958) – lead singer with Kajagoogoo.
Morrissey (born 1959) – formerly with The Smiths.
Pete Burns (born 1959) – singer and TV personality.
Steve Strange (1959-2015) – singer and club promoter.
Paul Rutherford (born 1959) – backing vocalist with Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Musicians born 1960–1969

Holly Johnson (born 1960) – lead singer with Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Jimmy Somerville (born 1961) pop singer who wrote "Smalltown Boy".
John Foster (born 1961) – singer with Bronski Beat.
Boy George (born 1961) – singer/songwriter, DJ.
Rev Richard Coles (born 1962) – priest, broadcaster, formerly with Bronski Beat.
John Balance (1962–2004) – partner of Peter Christopherson and the other half of Coil.
Marilyn (born 1962) – pop singer with the androgynous look.
Ian Shaw (born 1962) – voted Britain's best male jazz singer.
George Michael (1963–2016) – singer/songwriter, formerly with Wham!
Alison Goldfrapp (born 1963) – half of the band Goldfrapp.
John Mark Ainsley (born 1963) – lyric tenor.
Richard Thomas (born 1964) – Composer of Jerry Springer the opera.
Andy Bell (born 1964) – Lead singer with Erasure.
Brian Kennedy (born 1966) – sang for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Samantha Fox (born 1966) – singer and former Page 3 model,
David McAlmont (born 1967) – singer/songwriter.
Skin (born 1967) – lead singer with Skunk Anansie.
Matt Goss (born 1968) – singer, formerly with Bros.

Musicians born 1970 onwards

William Whitehead (born 1970) – organist.
Thomas Adès (born 1971) – composer, pianist and conductor.
Beverley Knight (born 1973) – singer/songwriter, straight campaigner against homophobia.
Stephen Gately (1976–2009) – singer with BoyZone.
Samantha Ronson (born 1977) – London-born American DJ.
QBoy (born 1978) – Homo Hop rapper.
Dan Gillespie Sells (born 1978) – lead singer with The Feeling.
Jill Jackson (born 1979) – singer/songwriter.
Will Young (born 1979) – singer/songwriter, first winner of Pop Idol.
Kele Okereke (born 1981) – singer and guitarist, rated "Sexiest Out Gay Male Artist".
Jessie J (born 1988) – singer/songwriter.
Marcus Collins (born 1988) – singer and X Factor runner-up.
Rylan Clark (born 1988) – X Factor contestant, winner of Celebrity Big Brother.
Joe McElderry (born 1991) – singer/songwriter, winner of Popstar to Operastar.
Lucy Spraggan (born 1991) – X Factor contestant.
Sam Smith (born 1992) – soul singer.

Key dates in LGBT music

1970: Dusty Springfield discusses her bisexuality in an interview with the Evening Standard, one of the first British pop stars to speak openly about her sexuality in a mainstream newspaper.
1972: CHE Music Group founded (now the Allegro Music Group).
1976: Tom Robinson first performs "(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay" at the Gay Pride march in London.
1976: Elton John comes out as bisexual in a cover interview with Rolling Stone.
1978: The Tom Robinson Band releases "Glad to be Gay".
1983: Pink Singers founded.
January 1984: BBC Radio 1 bans "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood; the single reaches number one.
1984: Bronski Beat release "Smalltown Boy" and the album The Age of Consent.
1988: Section 28 of the Local Government Act prohibits local authorities from "promoting" homosexuality.
1991: London Gay Men's Chorus founded.
23 November 1991: Freddie Mercury publicly announces he has AIDS; he dies the following day, aged 45.
20 April 1992: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness is held at Wembley Stadium before 72,000 people and broadcast to an estimated one billion television viewers worldwide.
1992: Andy Bell of Erasure publicly discloses his HIV-positive status.
1992: Diversity Choir founded.
1993: Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood publicly discloses his HIV-positive status.
1996: London Gay Symphony Orchestra founded.
1997: Gay Abandon choir founded in Leeds.
1997: Rainbow Chorus founded in Brighton.
1998: George Michael releases "Outside" following his public outing; the song directly addresses the circumstances of his disclosure.
2002: Will Young becomes the first openly gay winner of a UK television talent competition, taking the inaugural series of Pop Idol.
2003: Reading Gay Men's Chorus founded (now Thames Valley Gay Chorus).
2004: Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is appointed Master of the Queen's Music, the first openly gay holder of the post.
2005: Actually Gay Men's Chorus founded in Brighton.
2005: Actually Gay Women's Chorus founded.
2005: Brighton Gay Men's Chorus founded.
2005: Loud and Proud Choir founded in Edinburgh.
2005: London Gay Symphonic Winds founded.
2006: Out Aloud choir founded in Sheffield.
2007: Edinburgh Gay Men's Chorus founded.
2007: Sing Out choir formed in Bristol.
2008: Birmingham Gay Symphony Orchestra founded.
2008: South Wales Gay Men's Chorus founded.
2009: Various Voices European LGBT choir festival held in London.
2009: Liverpool LGBT Choir founded.
2011: London Gay Big Band founded.
2011: L Fest music festival founded.
2011: Proud Voices network of LGBT choirs founded.
2013: London Alternative Choir founded.
2013: The Fourth Choir founded.
2013: Glow Choir East founded in Ipswich.
2014: Sam Smith comes out as gay; their debut album In the Lonely Hour, addressing same-sex love, wins four Grammy Awards.
2015: Years & Years, fronted by openly gay singer Olly Alexander, reach number one in the UK with their debut album Communion.

See also

Timeline of UK LGBT History

External links

http://www.s368878229.websitehome.co.uk/FyneWinter13/#/6-7/
This is a Timeline of UK LGBT Music, created in connection with the theme of Music being adopted for LGBT History Month 2014.

Musicians born up to 1899

Blondel (c. 1155–1202) – minstrel, composer, possibly lover of King Richard I.
Mark Smeaton (c. 1512–1536) – young court musician executed for alleged adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn.
Arabella Hunt (1662–1705) – musician whose "husband" turned out to be a woman.
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) – said by Beethoven to be "the greatest composer that ever lived".
Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) – composer and suffragette.
Clement Harris (1871–1897) – composer, lover of Siegfried Wagner.
Edward J Dent (1876–1967) – Cambridge Professor of Music.
Roger Quilter (1877–1953) – composer of songs and light music.
John Ireland (1879–1962) – composer of chamber music.
Lord Berners (1883–1950) – eccentric composer, painter and novelist.
Fred Barnes (1885–1938) – music hall performer.
Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988) – reclusive composer of piano works.
Ivor Novello (1893–1951) – singer, songwriter, composer of musical comedies.
Douglas Byng (1893–1987) – music hall artist and pantomime dame.
Sir Noël Coward (1899–1973) – actor, singer, playwright, composer.

Musicians born 1900–1929

Leslie Hutchinson, "Hutch" (1900–1969) – cabaret star.
Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989) – composer, sometime lover of Benjamin Britten.
Richard Addinsell (1904–1977) – composer of the Warsaw Concerto.
Sir Michael Tippett (1905–1998) – composer of A Child of Our Time.
Sir Peter Pears (1910–1986) – singer, life partner of Benjamin Britten.
Stanley Bate (1911–1959) – composer of symphonies and other works.
Benjamin Britten, Lord Britten, (1913–1976) – composer of Peter Grimes, founder of the Aldeburgh Festival.
Sir John Pritchard (1921–1989) – conductor, Musical Director of the Glyndebourne opera.
Noel Mewton-Wood (1922–1953) – concert pianist.
John Lanchbery (1923–2003) – composer and arranger of ballet music.
Angela Morley, previously Wally Stott (1924–2009) – composer for films and TV.
James Bernard (1925–2001) – composer for the Hammer horror films.
Johnny Brandon (born 1925) – singer and composer of stage musicals.
George Melly (1926–2007) – Jazz musician and writer.
Joe Meek (1929–1967) – record producer who composed the best-selling "Telstar".

Musicians born 1930–1949

Lionel Bart (1930–1999) – writer and composer of Oliver!
Peter Katin (1930–2015) – pianist and CHE supporter.
Malcolm Williamson (1931–2003) – Master of the Queen's Music.
Brian Epstein (1934–1967) – the man who discovered The Beatles.
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934–2016) – composer, Master of the Queen's Music.
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (1936–2012) – classical and film composer, jazz pianist.
Kathy Kirby (1938–2011) – blonde bombshell who sang Secret Love.
Dusty Springfield (1939–1999) – icon of the swinging sixties who sang "You don't have to say you love me".
Long John Baldry (1941–2005) – blues singer known for "Let the heartaches begin".
Patrick Fyffe (1942–200) – "Bracket" of Hinge and Bracket.
George Logan (born 1944) – "Hinge" of Hinge and Bracket.
Labi Siffre (born 1945) – poet, singer, author of "Something Inside So Strong".
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) – lead singer with Queen.
Sir Elton John (born 1947) – singer/songwriter who has sold over 250 million records.
David Bowie (born 1947) – influential singer and songwriter who has reinvented himself several times.
Dave Davies (born 1947) – singer and guitarist with The Kinks.
Mark Bunyan (born 1949) – cabaret artist, co-founder of the Pink Singers.
Paul Gambaccini (born 1949) – radio presenter with an encyclopaedic knowledge of music.

Musicians born 1950–1959

Stephen Oliver (1950–1992) – prolific opera composer.
Kris Kirk (1950–1993) – music journalist and gay activist.
Carole Pope (born 1950 – singer-songwriter who moved to Canada as a child.
Graham Johnson (born 1950) – pianist and accompanist.
Tom Robinson (born 1950) – writer of "Glad to be Gay".
Joan Armatrading (born 1950) – blues singer originally from St Kitts.
Rob Halford (born 1951) – lead singer with Judas Priest.
Andy Fraser (born 1952) – bassist with Free.
Billy Lyall (1953–1989) – one of the Bay City Rollers.
Richard Fairbrass (born 1953) – Lead singer with Right Said Fred.
Neil Tennant (born 1954) – half of the Pet Shop Boys.
Bobby Crush (born 1954) – pianist and singer.
Annie Whitehead (born 1955) – Jazz trombonist.
Les McKeown (1955-2021) – lead singer with the Bay City Rollers.
Peter Christopherson (1955–2010) – half of the experimental music group Coil.
Douglas P. (born 1956) – neo-folk musician performing as "Death in June".
Marc Almond (born 1957) – singer/songwriter.
Jennifer Maidman (born 1958) – musician, partner of Annie Whitehead.
Horse McDonald (born 1958) – singer/songwriter who fled homophobia in her home town.
Limahl (born 1958) – lead singer with Kajagoogoo.
Morrissey (born 1959) – formerly with The Smiths.
Pete Burns (born 1959) – singer and TV personality.
Steve Strange (1959-2015) – singer and club promoter.
Paul Rutherford (born 1959) – backing vocalist with Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Musicians born 1960–1969

Holly Johnson (born 1960) – lead singer with Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Jimmy Somerville (born 1961) pop singer who wrote "Smalltown Boy".
John Foster (born 1961) – singer with Bronski Beat.
Boy George (born 1961) – singer/songwriter, DJ.
Rev Richard Coles (born 1962) – priest, broadcaster, formerly with Bronski Beat.
John Balance (1962–2004) – partner of Peter Christopherson and the other half of Coil.
Marilyn (born 1962) – pop singer with the androgynous look.
Ian Shaw (born 1962) – voted Britain's best male jazz singer.
George Michael (1963–2016) – singer/songwriter, formerly with Wham!
Alison Goldfrapp (born 1963) – half of the band Goldfrapp.
John Mark Ainsley (born 1963) – lyric tenor.
Richard Thomas (born 1964) – Composer of Jerry Springer the opera.
Andy Bell (born 1964) – Lead singer with Erasure.
Brian Kennedy (born 1966) – sang for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Samantha Fox (born 1966) – singer and former Page 3 model,
David McAlmont (born 1967) – singer/songwriter.
Skin (born 1967) – lead singer with Skunk Anansie.
Matt Goss (born 1968) – singer, formerly with Bros.

Musicians born 1970 onwards

William Whitehead (born 1970) – organist.
Thomas Adès (born 1971) – composer, pianist and conductor.
Beverley Knight (born 1973) – singer/songwriter, straight campaigner against homophobia.
Stephen Gately (1976–2009) – singer with BoyZone.
Samantha Ronson (born 1977) – London-born American DJ.
QBoy (born 1978) – Homo Hop rapper.
Dan Gillespie Sells (born 1978) – lead singer with The Feeling.
Jill Jackson (born 1979) – singer/songwriter.
Will Young (born 1979) – singer/songwriter, first winner of Pop Idol.
Kele Okereke (born 1981) – singer and guitarist, rated "Sexiest Out Gay Male Artist".
Jessie J (born 1988) – singer/songwriter.
Marcus Collins (born 1988) – singer and X Factor runner-up.
Rylan Clark (born 1988) – X Factor contestant, winner of Celebrity Big Brother.
Joe McElderry (born 1991) – singer/songwriter, winner of Popstar to Operastar.
Lucy Spraggan (born 1991) – X Factor contestant.
Sam Smith (born 1992) – soul singer.

Key dates in LGBT music

1970: Dusty Springfield discusses her bisexuality in an interview with the Evening Standard, one of the first British pop stars to speak openly about her sexuality in a mainstream newspaper.
1972: CHE Music Group founded (now the Allegro Music Group).
1976: Tom Robinson first performs "(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay" at the Gay Pride march in London.
1976: Elton John comes out as bisexual in a cover interview with Rolling Stone.
1978: The Tom Robinson Band releases "Glad to be Gay".
1983: Pink Singers founded.
January 1984: BBC Radio 1 bans "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood; the single reaches number one.
1984: Bronski Beat release "Smalltown Boy" and the album The Age of Consent.
1988: Section 28 of the Local Government Act prohibits local authorities from "promoting" homosexuality.
1991: London Gay Men's Chorus founded.
23 November 1991: Freddie Mercury publicly announces he has AIDS; he dies the following day, aged 45.
20 April 1992: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness is held at Wembley Stadium before 72,000 people and broadcast to an estimated one billion television viewers worldwide.
1992: Andy Bell of Erasure publicly discloses his HIV-positive status.
1992: Diversity Choir founded.
1993: Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood publicly discloses his HIV-positive status.
1996: London Gay Symphony Orchestra founded.
1997: Gay Abandon choir founded in Leeds.
1997: Rainbow Chorus founded in Brighton.
1998: George Michael releases "Outside" following his public outing; the song directly addresses the circumstances of his disclosure.
2002: Will Young becomes the first openly gay winner of a UK television talent competition, taking the inaugural series of Pop Idol.
2003: Reading Gay Men's Chorus founded (now Thames Valley Gay Chorus).
2004: Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is appointed Master of the Queen's Music, the first openly gay holder of the post.
2005: Actually Gay Men's Chorus founded in Brighton.
2005: Actually Gay Women's Chorus founded.
2005: Brighton Gay Men's Chorus founded.
2005: Loud and Proud Choir founded in Edinburgh.
2005: London Gay Symphonic Winds founded.
2006: Out Aloud choir founded in Sheffield.
2007: Edinburgh Gay Men's Chorus founded.
2007: Sing Out choir formed in Bristol.
2008: Birmingham Gay Symphony Orchestra founded.
2008: South Wales Gay Men's Chorus founded.
2009: Various Voices European LGBT choir festival held in London.
2009: Liverpool LGBT Choir founded.
2011: London Gay Big Band founded.
2011: L Fest music festival founded.
2011: Proud Voices network of LGBT choirs founded.
2013: London Alternative Choir founded.
2013: The Fourth Choir founded.
2013: Glow Choir East founded in Ipswich.
2014: Sam Smith comes out as gay; their debut album In the Lonely Hour, addressing same-sex love, wins four Grammy Awards.
2015: Years & Years, fronted by openly gay singer Olly Alexander, reach number one in the UK with their debut album Communion.

See also

Timeline of UK LGBT History

External links

http://www.s368878229.websitehome.co.uk/FyneWinter13/#/6-7/

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