There’s been at least 1 iconic bi musician in the spotlight for every decade in the last 100 years. And there’s at least one for many genres too!
1910’s: Bessie Smith, Blues & Jazz
She was one of the most popular singers during the time, and was given the nickname “Empress of the Blues”. She embraced her bisexuality. In fact, one of her hits, “It’s Dirty But Good” includes lyrics alluding to lesbian sex.
1920’s: Josephine Baker, Jazz
Cabaret dancer, singer, and actress. She fled the US because of racism and served France in WW2 as a spy against the Nazi’s. She came back to the US and was a civil rights activist. She was more private about her bisexuality but she is linked to bi artist Frida Kahlo.
1930’s: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Gospel, R&B, Jazz, Rock
She’s called the “Godmother of Rock n’ Roll”, and is a huge pioneer in this genre. The PBS special “Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock n’ Roll” tells us she was bisexual, and tried to live as openly as she could during her time.
1940’s: Billie Holiday, Jazz
One of the most legendary jazz singers of all time. Her stormy relationships with men inspired many of her songs, but she was also linked to actress Tallulah Bankhead.
1950’s: Sammy Davis Jr., Jazz, Swing, Traditional Pop
“Rat Pack” singer, dancer, vaudevillian. He was a huge civil rights activist, and after converting to Judaism he found solidarity between the Jewish and black communities’ struggles. He fought for interracial marriage. He was a supporter of gay rights, and spoke openly about his affairs with men and women.
1960’s: Janis Joplin, Pshychedelic Rock, Blues
Bridged the gap between pshychedelic rock/blues and soul. Lived only 27 years but her musical legacy didn’t wait for her death to start influencing the sound of her contemporaries. Openly had relationships with women, hid nothing.
1970’s: Freddie Mercury, Hard Rock, fused with everything else under the sun
The most famous bisexual in history. Voice of an angel. Loved titties. Wouldn’t record a duet with Michael Jackson because he brought his llama to the studio. Musical prodigy. He knew he’d be a legend from the beginning. He was more private about his sexuality, but he dated men and women nonetheless, and he wrote and sang about them.
1980’s: Grace Jones, Funk, Disco
Androgynous icon. No record of her actually using the word “bisexual”, though has declared her attraction to women, and of course married men. She’s a gem. Her early music was rooted in disco, but she brought her own Jamaican reggae influences to the sound. Her striking look made her a favorite muse within the New York art scene of the 70’s and 80’s.
1990’s: Billie Joe Armstrong, Punk Rock
Frontman of Green Day, who are credited with capturing the mainstream’s interest in punk rock. They were still very political, and wrote about not blindly following the government. Their song “Coming Clean” is about him questioning his bisexuality.
2000’s: Amy Winehouse, Jazz, Blues, Soul, R&B
Brought jazz and blues back to the mainstream after 40 years of them essentially being irrelevant to popular music. Her pen game was unmatched. Unapologetically bisexual and sang about women in a few songs.
2010’s: Janelle Monáe, Funk, R&B, Pop
A protégé of Prince, and the funkiest entity in the music industry since his passing. She has spoken about how her gender non-conformity is an homage to her working class roots, and speaks about feminism, race, and sexuality in her music. A legend in the making.
It makes me really happy that bisexuals have played a big part in shaping entertainment and music and have been a huge presence for the past century. Part of why it makes me feel so happy is because bisexuality is often dismissed as performative, attention-seeking, and empty. And it’s like, well…we’re definitely performing…and we just so happen to have gotten attention from it. But it’s not unsubstantial. Bi entertainers are singing about the meaningful relationships that their attraction to multiple genders has enabled them to have.
Alexis 