Rocking Out – Male Musicians Straddle the Closet

Much-respected Singer/guitarist/songwriter Bob Mould of the 1980s hardcore/alternative band Husker Du (and Sugar in the 1990s) is one openly gay rock star who started out ambivalent and seemingly unconnected to the broader gay community.

In 1994 Mould was outed, rather unceremoniously, by several gay publications. It adversely affected some of his core fan base. “ Professionally, I felt it immediately,” he told Harp Magazine in 2005. “Radio stations in the South reacted poorly.”

Coming as he did from the flannel-shirted, tough-guy world of loud guitar rock, Mould's bad outing experience at first left him rejecting gay activism and association, leading some to brand him “self-hating”. Eventually, his attitudes changed. “I think as time went on,” he said to Harp, “I had time to step away from my professional life, which was not a gay life, and take a couple years to get into the gay life in New York City. I started to feel a lot more whole. I'm a much happier person now. I feel bad that I wasn't comfortable doing more as an ‘out' musician earlier.”

In 2003 Mould co-organized, along with colleague and openly gay artist John Cameron Mitchell, the WEDrock concert to benefit Freedom to Marry, a gay marriage advocacy organization. Mould told Rolling Stone, "Who is he (President Bush) to tell the world how we should perceive two people wanting equal protection under the already existing system?"

Singer/pianist/songwriter Joe Jackson's music is rooted in the late 1970s “new wave” of sophisticated pop/jazz/classical styled rock. Like Mould, Jackson has also maintained an edgy relationship with mainstream gay culture. Even today many people don't even know he is gay, and the fact isn't mentioned on his website.

In his 1999 autobiographical book A Cure for Gravity, Jackson muses on how people make assumptions about him based on his lanky and perhaps effeminate appearance. However, throughout the book he remains ambiguous about his orientation, and speaks out against generalizing on anyone's sexuality.

But there are gay references in some of Jackson's music. For example, in a 2003 interview with Puremusic.com, Jackson opens up about himself while discussing the meaning behind his song “Real Men”.

“I see the gay identity has become more and more about being so masculine that you're more straight than the straight guys. And this is something that I find quite funny. I sort of get it, and at the same time, I don't like it that much. It's mixed feelings. And if we're talking about stereotypes, then I guess what I'm saying in the song is that I almost prefer the older stereotype — this sort of Oscar Wilde/Quentin Crisp gay stereotype.”

Neil Tennant of the English electronic pop duo Pet Shop Boys shied away from discussing homosexuality in the 1980s, but came out in 1993. His other Pet Shop Boy half, Chris Lowe has, to date, kept his sexuality a secret.

Tennant was a driving force behind Wotapalava, his planned 2001 worldwide tour of openly gay acts including Junior Vasquez, Rufus Wainwright, Soft Cell, and Magnetic Fields that unfortunately never got off the ground. Despite its failure, Wotapalava can be said to be a precursor to this year's 2007 True Colors tour organized by Cyndi Lauper that includes Erasure and Wainwright.

Pet Shop Boys belong to a group of highly successful Euro techno/synth/rock groups that includes Depeche Mode (all band members reportedly straight), Erasure (duo featuring openly gay singer Andy Bell), Soft Cell (duo featuring openly gay singer Marc Almond) and Rammstein (band members do not disclose their current sexuality).

These bands are towering figures in gay pop culture and have huge gay followings, and many have collaborated with other gay pop icons. For the most part their song lyrics are not specifically gay, but purposefully ambiguous, which could explain their continued popularity with both gay and straight audiences.

New generation, same crossroads

Perhaps Mika took his career cue from ex-boyband singer and pop megastar Ricky Martin — whose own sexual orientation has long been the subject of speculation. To date, Martin has refused to definitively answer whether he is gay or straight. His attitude may be summed up in his statement to People Magazine: "I'm an artist and you can fantasize about me however you want."

Regardless of how evasive Martin has been about his sexual orientation, his strategy of nondisclosure marked a turning point in pop culture. He never lost his core fan base and his worldwide sales remain unaffected.

In a 1999 Associated Press interview, Advocate editor-in-chief Judy Wieder noted: "He's responding without squelching the rumors or immediately running around with a woman.” Wieder told The Sun, "he includes gay men in his fan base without being terrified the women will run away [...] It says there's a lot less fear going on about sex orientation."

While still remaining tight-lipped about himself, Martin recently offered public words of support for Chistian Chavez of the Mexican band RBD, who recently came out as gay. "Life is too short to live closed up, guarding what you say,” Martin told the Associated Press.

As a possible model for Mika's career tactics, Martin's coy statement in his now famous 1999 Barbara Walters interview comes to mind. After not being able to get him to reveal his orientation, she admitted, “If gay people think you're gay and straight people think you're straight, hey, it means a bigger audience.”

“Exactly,” replied Martin.