10 Best GAY PRIDE Songs

I’ve compiled a short list of the best songs to boost your GAY PRIDE this summer. If this doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will!

10. Diana Ross – “I’m Coming Out”

Diana Ross threw the closet doors open and flung out the rainbow flag with “I’m Coming Out.” An energetic r&b/dance single that was later turned into a rap song by Puff Daddy and Mase called “Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems.”

9. Lady Gaga – “Born This Way”

The gay pride anthem of 2012 that had nearly every LGBT person dancing in the streets. Lady Gaga didn’t use symbolism or metaphors to get her message across, she was pretty blatant about her message making this one of the better gay anthems of the last decade.

8. Queen – “I Want To Break Free”

Freddie Mercury remains an LGBT icon because of his willingness to openly admit his bisexuality during the height of Queen’s popularity. It didn’t seem to hurt them either. This video is proof that even when the band got in full drag to sing a song about “breaking free” they still received massive support from their fans.

7. George Michael – “Freedom 90”

These lyrics…
“There’s someone else i’ve got to be
Take back your picture in a frame
Take back your singing in the rain
I just hope you understand
Sometimes the clothes do not make the man”

6. David Bowie – “Rebel, Rebel”

Before Gaga, before Adam Lambert, before Madonna, Before Queen…there was David Bowie. One of the first rockstars to tinker with androgyny and get away with it unscathed. David Bowie wore dresses, kissed men and maybe even went a little further. “Rebel, Rebel” explains it all.

5. Cher – “Believe”

Cher basically penetrated the ears of every gay man with this song that has been played countless times in gay clubs around the world. Cher is a gay icon despite the fact she’s not gay herself and has been a supporter of our community for several years.

4. Village People – “YMCA”

In case you didn’t know, the YMCA was known as a great bathhouse for gay men in the 70s and 80s. The YMCA has since lost that reputation but this song wouldn’t suggest it. The Village People in all their gay glory made this one of the top gay anthems of the last four decades.

3. Tegan and Sara – “Closer”

A hit dance single off indie-rock sister duo Tegan and Sara’s 2013 album Heartthrob, “Closer” is the kind of romantic ditty that celebrates gay and straight relationships alike. Both out and proud lesbians, the sisters sweetly sing over synthesizer beats, “So let’s make things physical/I won’t treat you like you’re oh so typical.”

The accompanying video includes women kissing, laughing, and shimmying. Photographed for pro-gay marriage campaign NOH8, Tegan has said that though Canadian, she and Sara vow to remain unmarried in solidarity with the millions who don’t have the same rights as them around the world.

2. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – “Same Love”

One of the greatest gay anthems ever written and who would have thought it would come from a hip-hop artist? Macklemore and Ryan Lewis‘ single “Same Love,” featuring lesbian singer Mary Lambert’s soulful chorus “I can’t change/Even if I tried/Even if I wanted to,” smashed through Billboard’s Top 40 chart in 2013, snagged a 2014 Song of the Year Grammy nomination, and became one of this year’s biggest rallying cries for same-sex equality.

1. Madonna – “Express Yourself”, “Justify My Love” and “Vogue”

Madonna might quite literally be the first visible and outspoken gay music icon. Check out 2:24 of the above video when Madonna tongues a woman (the footage preceding leads you to believe it will be a man). The video was banned and Madonna made a sh*tload from the song that remained at #1 for weeks. Madonna doesn’t need you to justify her love and you should know that “poor is the man whose pleasures depend on the permission of another.”

“Express Yourself” was an anthem for women and men alike shouting to the world that you need to be who you are, demand what you want and don’t settle for 2nd best…baby.

“Vogue” is the ultimate gay, dance floor anthem. Enough said.