Timeline of UK LGBT Music

This timeline of UK LGBT music was created for LGBT History Month 2014. It lists notable LGBT musicians in the United Kingdom, organised by birth decade, followed by a chronological record of key dates in LGBT music history.

For a fuller listing of individuals, see Category:Musicians.

Musicians born up to 1899

Blondel (c. 1155–1202) – medieval minstrel and composer, thought by some historians to have had a romantic attachment to King Richard I
Mark Smeaton (c. 1512–1536) – court musician and lutenist, executed during the fall of Anne Boleyn
Arabella Hunt (1662–1705) – singer and lutenist; her marriage was annulled after it emerged that her spouse was female
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) – Baroque composer; described by Beethoven as "the greatest composer who ever lived"
Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) – composer and women's rights activist; her The March of the Women became the anthem of the suffragette movement
Roger Quilter (1877–1953) – composer, known especially for vocal and light orchestral music
John Ireland (1879–1962) – composer, particularly of chamber and piano music
Lord Berners (1883–1950) – composer, painter, and writer; an eccentric polymath of the Edwardian and inter-war periods
Ivor Novello (1893–1951) – singer, songwriter, playwright, and musical theatre composer
Sir Noël Coward (1899–1973) – actor, playwright, composer, and performer

Musicians born 1900–1929

Sir Lennox Berkeley (1903–1989) – composer; a close associate of Benjamin Britten
Sir Peter Pears (1910–1986) – tenor and lifelong partner of Benjamin Britten; co-founder of the Aldeburgh Festival
Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) – composer; founder of the Aldeburgh Festival and the first composer to be created a life peer
Angela Morley (1924–2009) – composer and arranger for film and television; previously known as Wally Stott, she transitioned in the early 1970s
Joe Meek (1929–1967) – record producer; produced "Telstar" (1962), the first UK record to reach number one in the United States

Musicians born 1930–1949

Lionel Bart (1930–1999) – composer and lyricist; creator of the musical Oliver!
Brian Epstein (1934–1967) – manager of The Beatles
Dusty Springfield (1939–1999) – pop singer; one of the defining voices of 1960s British music
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991) – lead vocalist of Queen
Sir Elton John (born 1947) – singer-songwriter and pianist; one of the best-selling music artists in history
David Bowie (1947–2016) – singer, songwriter, and actor; known throughout his career for reinvention and exploration of identity
Dave Davies (born 1947) – guitarist and vocalist with The Kinks

Musicians born 1950–1959

Tom Robinson (born 1950) – singer-songwriter; writer of "(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay"
Joan Armatrading (born 1950) – singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in St Kitts
Rob Halford (born 1951) – lead vocalist of Judas Priest
Neil Tennant (born 1954) – co-founder and vocalist of the Pet Shop Boys
Marc Almond (born 1957) – singer and songwriter; co-founder of Soft Cell
Morrissey (born 1959) – singer and lyricist; former frontman of The Smiths
Pete Burns (1959–2016) – vocalist and performer; frontman of Dead or Alive
Paul Rutherford (born 1959) – vocalist with Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Musicians born 1960–1969

Holly Johnson (born 1960) – vocalist and frontman of Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Jimmy Somerville (born 1961) – singer; co-founder of Bronski Beat and The Communards
Boy George (born 1961) – vocalist and DJ; frontman of Culture Club
George Michael (1963–2016) – singer and songwriter; formerly of Wham!
Andy Bell (born 1964) – vocalist and co-founder of Erasure
Samantha Fox (born 1966) – singer
Skin (born 1967) – vocalist and frontman of Skunk Anansie

Musicians born 1970 onwards

Will Young (born 1979) – singer; winner of the inaugural series of Pop Idol (2002)
Sam Smith (born 1992) – singer-songwriter

Key dates in LGBT music history

1970s

1970 – Dusty Springfield speaks openly about her bisexuality in an interview with the Evening Standard, becoming one of the first British pop stars to discuss her sexuality in a mainstream newspaper.
1972 – The CHE Music Group is established, one of the earliest LGBT musical organisations in the UK. It later becomes the Allegro Music Group.
1976 – Tom Robinson first performs "(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay" at the Gay Pride march in London – two years before its release as a single.
1976 – Elton John comes out as bisexual in a cover interview with Rolling Stone, published in October.
1978 – The Tom Robinson Band releases "(Sing If You're) Glad to Be Gay" as a single.

1980s

1983 – The Pink Singers are founded in London, becoming the UK's first LGBT community choir.
January 1984 – BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read refuses to play "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, leading to a formal BBC ban. The single reaches number one in the UK charts, spending five weeks there. The ban draws national attention to the song's openly sexual content and its openly gay performers.
1984 – Bronski Beat releases "Smalltown Boy" and the album The Age of Consent. Jimmy Somerville, Mark Feldman, and Larry Steinbachek become the first openly gay group to have a mainstream UK chart hit.
1988 – Section 28 of the Local Government Act prohibits local authorities from "promoting" homosexuality. The Pink Singers and other LGBT musical organisations perform at protests against the legislation.

1990s

1991 – The London Gay Men's Chorus is established.
23 November 1991 – Freddie Mercury publicly announces he has AIDS in a statement released the evening before his death. He dies the following day, aged 45. His death raises public awareness of AIDS in the UK and internationally.
20 April 1992 – The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness is held at Wembley Stadium before an audience of 72,000 people, with an estimated worldwide television audience of one billion. Performers include David Bowie, George Michael, Elton John, Annie Lennox, and Elizabeth Taylor. The concert raises funds for AIDS research and remains one of the largest benefit concerts in British history.
1992 – The Diversity Choir is founded.
1992 – Andy Bell of Erasure publicly discloses his HIV-positive status, one of the first prominent UK pop performers to do so.
1993 – Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood publicly discloses his HIV-positive status.
1996 – The London Gay Symphony Orchestra is created.
1997 – Gay Abandon choir is established in Leeds. The Rainbow Chorus begins in Brighton.
1998 – George Michael releases "Outside" following his public outing after a police incident in Los Angeles. The song and its accompanying video directly address the circumstances of his outing and become one of the most discussed public responses by a British pop star to the involuntary disclosure of sexuality.

2000s

2002 – Will Young becomes the first openly gay winner of a UK television talent competition, taking the inaugural series of Pop Idol. He comes out during the live final, to an audience of 13 million viewers.
2003 – The Reading Gay Men's Chorus is founded, later becoming the Thames Valley Gay Chorus.
2004 – Peter Maxwell Davies is appointed Master of the Queen's Music, becoming the first openly gay holder of the post. He had previously been knighted in 1987.
2005 – Several new LGBT ensembles are established: Actually Gay Men's Chorus (Brighton), Brighton Gay Men's Chorus, Loud and Proud Choir (Edinburgh), and London Gay Symphonic Winds.
2006 – Out Aloud choir is founded in Sheffield.
2007 – Edinburgh Gay Men's Chorus is established. Sing Out is formed in Bristol.
2008 – Birmingham Gay Symphony Orchestra and South Wales Gay Men's Chorus are founded.
2009 – Various Voices, the European LGBT choral festival, is held in London. Liverpool LGBT Choir is established.

2010s

2011 – London Gay Big Band and the L Fest music festival are launched. The Proud Voices network is created, connecting LGBT choirs across the UK and Ireland.
2013 – London Alternative Choir, The Fourth Choir, and Glow Choir East (Ipswich) are founded.
2014 – Sam Smith comes out as gay. Their debut album In the Lonely Hour, which addresses same-sex love, goes on to win four Grammy Awards and sell over 12 million copies worldwide.
2015 – Years & Years, fronted by openly gay singer Olly Alexander, reach number one in the UK with their debut album Communion.