Barry Walters, a scholar of LGBTQ music, says queer artists have long expressed their identities on a spectrum. In this Slate Plus exclusive, Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy welcomes music journalist Barry Walters, whose forthcoming book, Mighty Real, charts queer music history from 1969 to 2000. In this conversation about queerness in pop, Walters reflects [...] Read more

From Little Richard to Chappell Roan, queer artists have always been vanguards of pop, even when they have not been out. Little Richard was rock ‘n’ roll’s flamboyant architect. Lesley Gore sang that no one owned her. Sylvester was a gender-fluid icon who helped define disco. Freddie Mercury made rock operatic, and George Michael demanded [...] Read more