Olly Alexander
As a gay songwriter,[1][2] Alexander has stated in interviews he would like to see greater use of the qualified male pronoun in music. He explained that, whenever he used to write a diary, he would refer to "you and I" because he wanted to hide who he was writing about. Several Years & Years songs feature male pronouns.[3] "It is kind of sad to me that we don't have gay popstars singing about men using a male pronoun," he told Digital Spy, "but that could change hopefully."[4] Though his work with Years & Years he openly references his sexuality, Alexander "can't speak for all gay people, because there are so many different issues, and experiences, and different shapes and sizes. But I can speak for myself, and that is what I'm doing if I'm going to be writing songs and giving interviews, I want to be able to speak about something I care about."[4]
In January 2021 Alexander appeared in the Channel 4 series It's a Sin, a drama based on the 1980s AIDS crisis, directed by Russell T Davies. He played the central character Ritchie who leaves the Isle of Wight to go to University in London in 1981. Ritchie ends up back on the Island dying of AIDS.
Alexander was to selected to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Malmo in 2024. He finished 18th out of 25 finalists with a song called Dizzy. However he received no public votes and was the only contestant to receive no points from the public voting system [5].
References
Information extracted from the Wikipedia article of the same name.
- ↑ http://downtownerdc.com/a-frank-conversation-with-years-years-frontman-olly-alexander/ Peter Murray, "A Frank Conversation with Years & Years Frontman Olly Alexander", The Downtowner, 24 March 2015 Washington DC
- ↑ http://www.metroweekly.com/2015/09/shining-stars-an-interview-with-years-and-years-olly-alexander/ "Shining Stars: An interview with Years and Years' Olly Alexander" , Metro Weekly
- ↑ http://www.out.com/music/2015/7/07/best-years-ever-gay-frontman-olly-alexander-years-years-hits-pops-sweet-spot Paul Flyyn, "Best Years Ever: With gay frontman Olly Alexander, Years & Years hits pop’s sweet spot" Out.com, 7 July 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/interviews/a657111/years--years-interview-its-sad-we-dont-have-gay-popstars-using-male-pronouns.html Lewis Corner, "Years & Years Interview: It's sad we don't have gay male popstars using male pronouns", Digital Spy, 8 July 2015
- ↑ UK residents could not vote for the UK entry
