I thought it was a really good read. I think Aidan's point about the way gay performers are treated depending on how far left along the musical spectrum is an interesting one. I was at Rufus Wainwright earlier this year and even though I got the feeling that everyone there was really into the music there was a small section that seemed slightly perturbed by the gay cabaret that the whole thing descended into and many started holding their girlfriends a little tighter and more obviously than before. While they may not have had a problem with Wainwright's sexuality the idea that they themselves might falsely be thought of as gay was obviously a problem for them. Regarding the Scisser Sisters and their stereotypical gay image, Boy George said something once about being gay and in pop music. He believed that for the general public being flamboyantly homosexual was perfectly acceptable, but only if it was done in a kind of John Inman way; once you got into "cocks up arses" (his words) territory the public at large go into fits of disgust. As for pop, well the whole point of these boy bands is for young girls to dream about marrying them isn't it? If someone is gay then that's obviously not going to happen, but in much the same way boy band members that are in serious straight relationships are encouraged to hide them (it even happened to Homer Simpson).

Interesting read. I think bisexuality plays a more controversial part in music than homosexuality, and that's kind of even more taboo (John Lennon, Jim Morrison, the Jagger/Jones rumours). This is gossip orientated rather than anything else. I suppose a gay artist will always have a large gay audience, and sometimes that puts people off attending a gig (RE the rufus gig comment). I think if the music is quality, it transcends the taboo of homosexuality among 'mainstream' audiences, in the same manner as the massive appreciation of Motown artists in an era of racial segregation. As for an openly gay hip hop star, again, it probably has to do with the audience of hip hop, and the history of homophobic lyrical content. That said, Missy Elliot is gay and nobody harps on about it, and Andre 3000 is profoundly 'metrosexual', and is probably the most crtically adored hip hop figure (along with the equally metro Kanye West) at the moment. Basically, what I think is that homosexuality in music mostly influences a type of audience rather than a type of music.

Jim Morrison bisexual?????!!!!!! Don't think so somehow.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, as George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld might say.....

Didn't Will Young have a number one album and single after coming out?

think he did, definitely didnt hurt him anyways. Though his s**te covers should have ("light my fire" ugh!) jimbo would have been turning in his grave. Dont recall hearing anything about Jim being bi-sexual either, n i would be pretty surprised if he was. That said, he was one sexy mother f**ker!

ha, "mother, i want to.... f**k YOU"

there's some book on Jimi Hendrix (read it a million years ago, can't remember what it was called) where Jim Morrison was at one of his gigs for the first time and was so taken over by his guitar playing that he jumped on stage and begged Jimi to allow him to give him a blow job. That has just stuck in my memory, but whatever. I think it's a widely circulated one. then again, there are plenty of bi-sexual rumours and stories about most rock stars, and indeed most people.

He didn't 'actually' come out. The Sun had pictures of him with his boyfriend. So it was either come out or we out you.

Who, yer man from Westlife? Isn't that what they did with Gately? One of the tabloids was going to out him so he went to the one of the others and did it himself.

"That same tabloid also owns photos of one of Irelands most famous married rock stars in a compromising position with one of Ielands most beautiful musical siblings." that bono and andrea story has been doing the rounds for ages. and probably isn't true. the jim corr and larry mullen stuff however - thats the good s**t. anyway - a good article.

don't agree with aidan's idea that gay people are honour-bound to publically "admit" to being gay. while it is a sad truth that there is still much bigotry against homosexuality (maybe when people stop using the word "admit" to describe someone discussing their homosexuality in public we'll know things are getting better...), and having gay 'celebrities' who are open about bring gay may well help people struggling to deal with such bigotry, i don't see anything wrong with mark feehily, or stephen gately, or anyone else, keeping their private life private. boybands are entirely about image and fantasy. as aidan says, they are "dream-fodder for young girls". in fairness, whether mark feehily is gay or not, those dreams were never going to come true - at least not without serious legal ramifications. hypocrisy? a bit harsh i think.

Boybands singing about gay affairs are probably not going to get into the Smash Hits tour but homosexual artists in other genres are well able to sing about their experiences - a while ago I bought a Catie Curtis album "Truth from Lies" - she's American folkie singer-songwriter - I didn't know she was lesbian until I looked up her song "Radical" one of the lines is "I'm not being radical when I kiss you, I don't love you to make a point" and realised most of her work was about her personal lesbian experiences. Despite fairly conservative on the gay marriage "issue", I thought her songs were beautiful and did challenge my political thinking. And jmc105 you've a point - just because someone is gay it doesn't mean we've a right to know their private life because of it. BTW, a friend told me that Gavin Friday came out as gay?? She couldn't remember where she read it. Did anyone else see that?