Queer Artists Take the 65th Grammys by Storm

Music lovers, rejoice! The 2023 Grammys are nearly here! And this year, the first wave of performers on the program are serving LGBTQ representation and staunch allyship. But for those who usually disregard more popular music and culture, here’s a quick little rundown of a few LGBTQ artists who’ll grace the stage.

Sam Smith (They/Them) – 1 Nomination

To start, there’s four-time Grammy winner and Capitol Records artist Sam Smith. If you have the arguable misfortune of remembering 2012-14 with any clarity, you also probably at least have your first memory of their dulcet tones gracing your ears on the well-known single “Latch” by Disclosure. Since then, they’ve gone on to release and collaborate on a number of hits including “Stay With Me,” “Lay Me Down,” “Dancing With a Stranger,” and “Unholy,” the last of which has earned them a nomination this year for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with Kim Petras. Their most recent release in January, Gloria, has earned mostly favorable reviews as well.

Kim Petras (She/Her) – 1 Nomination

Next on the list is Kim Petras, earlier mentioned for her nomination-worthy collaboration with Sam Smith. Though a largely independent artist early on, Petras is an absolute collab queen, lending her talents to projects with artists such as Cheat Codes and Kygo.  But don’t let her penchant for teamwork fool you: She’s a dance-pop powerhouse all on her own. She released her first chart topper, “I Don’t Want It All,” in 2017 and hasn’t looked back since, racking up nominations, praise, and even an award or two as the new princess of pop as her songs continue to do numbers on global charts.

Alongside making music, Petras has been a loud advocate both for herself and the LGBTQ community. Fearless in her adolescence, she publicly petitioned for (and was granted) gender affirming surgery before the required age of 18 in her native Germany. She’s also been the first out and proud trans performer of a couple different major events (such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade) on both sides of the ocean including the 2021 EMAs (MTV Europe Music Awards) in Budapest, a move that directly defied the (at the time) new discriminatory laws in Hungary against LGBTQ people. But, at the end of the day, her goals around music boil down to something much simpler: She enjoys creating songs that everyone can sing, remember, and enjoy in the airy way she experiences pop.

Brandi Carlile (She/Her) – 7 Nominations

Our third artist, Brandi Carlile, is also a bit of a host unto herself. Her talents span several occupations, instruments, and genres, though she tends to return to her vocal country/western roots. It’s no wonder, then, that she’ll be entering the stage with six Grammys to her name and possibly leaving with several more. A literal lifelong musician, Carlile has enjoyed a measure of success since the early 2000s, but her proper debut came in 2017 with the album Cover Stories, which started at number 30 on the Billboard 200. She’s been an increasingly popular name ever since, releasing several critically acclaimed albums and topping Billboard’s Rock and Folk album charts.

On top of her musical successes, Carlile also works diligently in the activism sphere across a number of causes. The Looking Out Foundation established by Carlile and two of her longtime collaborators (Tim and Phil Hanseroth) has not only awarded grants to several organizations such as Black Visions Collective and the Human Rights Campaign, but it has also launched several grassroots campaigns centered around social equity and partly funded by Carlile’s ticket sales. Carlile also donated the proceeds of Cover Stories to War Child UK and collaborated with Alicia Keys on “A Beautiful Song” at a CBS-sponsored event to encourage people to vote.

Steve Lacy (He/Him) – 4 Nominations

Last but certainly not least, we have the radiant Steve Lacy who, despite being the youngest on this list, is no less accomplished by any stretch of the imagination. The alternative R&B musician got his start on the video game Guitar Hero, which inspired him to learn the actual guitar. In high school, he started producing music on his phone for his band The Internet, including what would later become the Grammy-nominated album Ego Death.

This was just the beginning of his illustrious career; however, as he then went on to produce music for artists such as J. Cole, GoldLink, and Kendrick Lamar (specifically the song “Pride” from the album Damn.). However, he cemented his place in the spotlight (and earned his first solo Grammy nomination) with his debut album, Apollo XXI, in 2019. This past year, Lacy released his currently Grammy nominated and chart-topping second studio album, Gemini Rights, which contains the currently thrice Grammy nominated song “Bad Habit.”

Tune into the Grammys on February 5 at 6 p.m. MST to catch these talented artists and more!