Ultimate Pride playlist: The 50 best gay songs

Fuck buddies, open relationships, one-night-stands…gays don't have the market on casual sexuality cornered, but we certainly have it figured out a little better than our straight brethren. Critically adored pop sensation Robyn proved she could hang with the gays in 2010 when she released this single spelling out the pros and cons of friends with benefits.—Ethan LaCroix

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The young rapper, who identifies as pansexual, doesn’t directly address sexuality in this second single from 2013's Dirty Gold. But the track’s themes of working away from a repressive religious upbringing and relying on inner strength to overcome obstacles ("I realized I was a teacher, not just one of the heathens / I'm going to destroy the fallacies, start creating believers”), combined with a seductively uplifting Sia-sung hook, make for gold indeed.—Kris Vire

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High-school and college boys looking for an excuse to wear sexy black lingerie in public found a perfect one in Richard O’Brien’s B-flick musical spoof and midnight-movie cult smash The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Tim Curry’s outrageous camp charisma as the antiheroic Dr. Frank-N-Furter—alien, mad scientist and deviant seducer in one gartered package—dragged cross-dressing out of the shadows and strutted it as a virtue. Shamelessness has never seemed so easy.—Adam Feldman

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This muscular riot-grrrl anthem finds singer Kathleen Hanna straddling the line between platonic crush ("I think I want to be her best friend") and flat-out sapphism ("In her kiss, I taste the revolution!"). If you want to see a room full of gay girls (and more than a few boys) lose their shit, play this 1993 classic on the jukebox. —Ethan LaCroix

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In 2010, Glee struck a chord among gay viewers (more so than usual, even!) when new cast member Darren Criss sang a cover of Katy Perry's pop trifle to another male character on the show. It was a sweet, mildly subversive moment, the cover became a Top Ten Billboard hit in the U.S.—and Criss became an instant sex symbol among gay fans.—Ethan LaCroix

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Four years before Ellen declared, “Yep, I’m Gay,” on the cover of Time, Melissa Etheridge titled her 1993 album Yes I Am after publicly coming out as a lesbian at an inaugural event for Bill Clinton. The rocker won a Grammy for this single, an appeal to a lover that's steeped in tumult and possible secrecy. The terrific bridge—"I don't care what they think, I don't care what they say / What do they know about this love anyway”—seemed almost tailor-made to inspire gay listeners to come out with confidence.—Kris Vire

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Cyndi Lauper’s spunky 1983 debut album, She’s So Unusual, overflowed with coded queer messages (including a reference to Blueboy magazine and a Prince cover that didn’t change the gender pronouns), but the title track of her 1986 follow-up endeared her even more to LGBT listeners tired of being judged for being different. “I see your true colors / And that’s why I love you,” Lauper sings in a voice of tenderness tinged with urgency. “So don’t be afraid to let them show / Your true colors are beautiful like a rainbow.” In her long history of gay activism—perhaps no other straight pop star has been more actively engaged on that front—Lauper has always been willing to speak colorful truth to power.—Adam Feldman

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All good things must come to an end, and Donna Summer’s 1978 disco smash is an invitation to go out with a bang. Written for the movie Thank God It’s Friday by gay disco composer Paul Jabara—who won an Oscar for it—the number begins in a sleepy, reflective space, then rouses itself and its listeners to get back in the swing of things. Not surprisingly, it is often played as the final tune of a long night, offering one last shot to party like there’s no tomorrow (and then, tomorrow, to party again).—Adam Feldman

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ABBA may be synonymous with ’70s soft rock, but this galloping disco anthem proved the Swedes could also turn up the tempo. Singer Agnetha Fältskog wails about the frustration of being lonely (and maybe horny) late at night while parked in front of the TV. It's a familiar scenario to anyone who's ever spent a long night flipping through Grindr (or Scruff or Manhunt or whatever).—Ethan LaCroix

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Okay, the gay experience is not all about empowerment and acceptance and rainbows and unicorns. Sometimes it’s about toxic narcissists who break your heart, and Soft Cell’s 1981 single—a cover of a forgotten 1964 soul track by Gloria Jones—captures all the anger and hurt that unrequited love can bring. The confusion, too: “Don’t touch me, please / I cannot stand the way you tease” quickly relents into a “Touch me, baby” fadeout. And gay lead singer Marc Almond gave it a subtle edge of queer insider knowledge.—Adam Feldman

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Bad girls and gay boys have always been besties, and this 2011 track from Brazilian combo Cansei de Ser Sexy is a loving ode to that special relationship. Lead singer Lovefoxxx looks back on adolescent fantasies of "being busy with my job and my gay friends, laughing and drinking with my one-night stands" in the "big city." Anyone who's ever felt trapped in a small town (and eventually escaped) will definitely relate. —Ethan LaCroix

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Most gay dance anthems are packed with drama of both the lyrical and vocal variety. But in 1994, German singer Billie Ray Martin invaded clubland with this icy floor filler that's so calm she almost seems detached. Don't let that near-monotone fool you, though—Martin is a formidable vocalist, and when she finally cuts loose ("Burning inside, burning inside, yeah!"), it's a master class in the art of delayed gratification.—Ethan LaCroix

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Before forming her dance-DJ-production project MEN, JD Samson stepped up to the mike as a member of this electro-rock trio. "Viz" (2004), about butch-lesbian visibility, offers an early glimpse of Samson's sly humor and her ability to make radical queer politics into dance-floor fodder. Bandmates Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman join in on the final chorus for a joyous feminist sing-along.—Ethan LaCroix

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The copper mullet, the lightning bolt across the face—in 1972, Bowie was at the peak of his androgynous alien phase, pushing Ziggy Stardust closer to the sun until he incinerated in a flash. A year before, in a Melody Maker interview, the glam rocker had declared himself gay. Though he later sloppily retracted the statement in a drug fog (he was living on a rumored diet of coke, milk and peppers), it remained a momentous occasion in pop music. As "Mannish Boy" echoed through Mick Ronson's dirty blues riff, the Jean Genie, or Aladdin Sane, or whatever Bowie's avatar might have been at the moment, proved you could growl through tough and gnarly rock while sporting perfectly applied lip gloss.—Brent DiCrescenzo

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A gag in a 1997 episode of The Simpsons found a manly steel mill turning into a flamboyant gay club when this 1990 track came over the loudspeaker—an indication of just how thoroughly gay this song is. "Gonna Make You Sweat" is the second song on our list featuring the powerhouse vocals of Weather Girls singer Martha Wash, who never quite achieved mainstream fame (she was replaced in this track's video by C+C Music Factory member Zelma Davis), but has been beloved by the gay community for decades. —Ethan LaCroix

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“Don't be fancy, just get dance-y,” instructs the chaotic force known as Pink in this rowdy 2010 toast to misbehavior. “Why so serious?” She’s the first one to honor her own advice. The song is a defiantly anticool anthem—a call to the underdogs of the world, the “loud and nitty-gritty dirty little freaks,” to ignore convention and just let loose. Before the final chorus, she even throws in a slyly self-undermining false start: "So raise your—(oh, fuck) / So raise your glass…" In the land of Pink, party foul is party fair.—Adam Feldman

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In the summer of 2012, "Let's Have a Kiki" was so ubiquitous in New York gay bars and clubs that it nearly crossed over into annoying. By the time Sarah Jessica Parker sang it on Glee, we were officially over it. But after a brief break, it's time to accept this song for what it is: A hilarious primer on queer underground culture (as with "Vogue," the New York ball scene is the inspiration here), set to an irresistible techno beat. No wonder it got so big that your mom now thinks that MTA stands for "Motherfuckers Touching my Ass."—Ethan LaCroix

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Try not to smile when this one comes on. A tall glass of sweet bubble tea, Deee-Lite’s 1990 dance hit offered an adorable version of New York club culture to the world, bouncing a message of love and good times on a bed of funky-psychedelic house music. Though a biological lady, frontwoman Lady Miss Kier brought more than a hint of winking drag-queen sensibility to her colorful retro style, and it was all in the spirit of togetherness—“Not vicious or malicious / Just de-lovely and delicious."—Adam Feldman

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RuPaul, you are a goddess. The drag queen next door debuted this sassy hit in 1992, winning over not only gay fans, but an audience as wide as that of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, who cited the song as one of his favorites a year later. RuPaul is full of catchphrases ("lip-synch for your life," anyone?), but the ones in this song are by far her most widely known and most oft repeated. Sashay, shantay! Shantay shantay shantay.—Kate Wertheimer

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Only a grinch of the highest caliber could dismiss the feel-good factor of this 2010 smash. Katy Perry's sweetest and most dazzling pop moment, "Firework" is a clarion call to the down-at-heart and disenfranchised. "Do you know that there's a chance for you?" sings Perry, as this rainbow anthem builds to its explosive chorus and the line "Come on, let your colors burst!" The enjoyably dramatic (and predictably firework-heavy) video features a tender gay kiss to boot.—Sophie Harris

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A connecting link between Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” and Katy Perry’s “Firework” (both on this list), Aguilera’s 2002 power ballad—written and produced by 4 Non Blondes lesbian hit maker Linda Perry—proffers affirmation to those who feel they don’t fit in. In the video, these include young people with body issues, a goth punk, a (biological) man putting on women’s clothes and two guys tongue-kissing in public. “I am beautiful no matter what they say,” Aguilera insists on behalf of all these surrogates. “Words can’t bring me down.” But songs can lift you up, and this one is a musical antidepressant.—Adam Feldman

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The Australian pop princess may have scored her biggest dance-floor hit with “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” (or, ahem, “The Locomotion”), but euphoric, gorgeous disco swoon “All the Lovers” really captures the spirit of Pride. Minogue herself has said that the video is an homage to her gay audience; it features a human pyramid of pansexual smooching (in the style of naked-installation artist Spencer Tunick). For good measure, there’s also a galloping white horse, a dove, balloons and an inflatable elephant.—Sophie Harris

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We could’ve gone with a number of Gossip tracks; fiery frontwoman Beth Ditto has said the group’s later breakthrough hit “Standing in the Way of Control” was penned as a reaction to President Bush’s endorsement during the 2004 election cycle of a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, after all. But there’s something about the casual confidence with which the self-described “fat, feminist lesbian from Arkansas” introduces herself in this lo-fi come-on from the band’s 2000 debut: “When I’m right, I’ll say I’m right.”—Kris Vire

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Gay icons Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Cher and Barbra Streisand all turned down Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer's campy composition before the Weather Girls snatched it up in 1982. It's impossible to imagine any of those more famous singers diving into this ridiculous classic with the fearlessness and vocal pyrotechnics of former Sylvester backup singers Izora Armstead and Martha Wash, who take the song over the top in the best possible sense.—Ethan LaCroix

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The openly gay English trio Bronski Beat was a pioneer in integrating explicit LGBT-activist messages into its music, including this 1984 debut hit. Frontman Jimmy Somerville, in a sensitive falsetto, sings about a lad who flees hometown bullying—“Run away, turn away” is the recurring refrain—against a steady, reassuringly numb background of rhythm and synthesizer. The song takes the pain of rejection and makes it danceable.—Adam Feldman

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Pop queen and gay icon Cher has been making records for six decades and has scored a No. 1 Billboard hit in each of those decades. But 1998 megahit “Believe” is the jewel in the crown, still one of the best-selling singles of all time. Hatched in the mold of “I Will Survive,” “Believe” matches its message of romantic courage to shamelessly trashy Eurodance backing and lashings of vocal Auto-Tune. Ridiculous? Yes. Empowering? Utterly.—Sophie Harris

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When the Village People got all Horace Greeley in 1979, it was most likely a wink and a nod to the growing gay utopia of San Francisco. By the time the Pet Shop Boys covered “Go West” in 1993, it was something altogether different. Coming at a moment after the most devastating years of the AIDS crisis, when the epidemic was better understood but its future was frustratingly unknowable, Neil Tennant’s melancholy reading of the song's hope-filled lyrics, with backing from a large, all-male choir, finds something unexpectedly moving in a cheesy artifact.—Kris Vire

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The Quin twins may have become the world’s most influential lesbian sister act with the massive success of this lead single from 2013’s Heartthrob, which finds the ladies shifting away from fuzzy guitars and toward shimmery dance pop. It’s the most accessible entreaty to getting physical since Olivia Newton-John went to Dancercise; that Tegan and Sara’s young fans don’t give a shit about the gender of the “you” in “how to get you underneath me” puts us that much closer to fine.—Kris Vire

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You’d never guess this emancipation anthem was written by Queen bassist John Deacon and not frontman Freddie Mercury, such is the relish with which Mercury belts it out: "God knows, I've got to break free!" The Brits didn’t bat an eye at the video—a parody of U.K. soap opera Coronation Street, which has the entire band in drag, Mercury as a horny housewife—but it was banned over here in the U.S. Par for the course.—Sophie Harris

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A decade after Stonewall, openly gay musicians were still a rarity (being out is arguably a risky career move to this day). But flamboyant singer-songwriter Sylvester proved that queerness wasn't incongruous with chart success, thanks to this incredibly infectious 1978 disco classic, one of the most beloved songs of its era.—Ethan LaCroix

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It only takes a few seconds. Those first few bars of anxious, staccato synth – and the energy in the room shifts. People abandon conversations, leave toilet queues, put down their drinks. In queer spaces, it’s an unspoken rule: ‘Dancing On My Own’ demands your full attention. It’s simply compulsory to hit the dancefloor and belt out the lyrics to Robyn’s beloved sad banger, feeling your hearts collectively swell as you yell ‘I’m right over here, why can’t you see me?’. Since its release in 2010, this song has woven itself into the fabric of LGBTQ+ culture – and not just because it’s a perfect slice of ’80s-inspired pop. It’s an absolute tune, of course, but for many of us, it perfectly encapsulates parts of the queer experience. It’s about longing and isolation, but it’s also about the ethereal joy of the nightclub. Yes, there’s the relentless pace of the bass, but then there’s Robyn’s soaring melody above it all, determined to dance despite it all. Heartbreak and resilience. Stilettos and broken bottles.

Inspired by sleeping with questioning guys, ‘One of Your Girls’ is supposedly Sivan’s favourite song from 2023’s ‘Something to Give Each Other’. The instantly viral music video saw the Aussie pop star dressed in drag and transforming into a 2000s pop diva. And yes, while it may be camp and fun, it’s also got a serious – and slightly heartbreaking – message underneath it about desire, secrecy and love that’s just out of reach.

Country hero Willie Nelson staked his claim as an outspoken LQBTQI+ ally with this dreamy western waltz – and the first ever mainstream gay country song.. ‘Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other/What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?’ sings Willie with a giant big wink to all the leather daddies rocking a Stetson. Originally written by songwriter Ned Sublette way back in 1981, ot’s since been covered by masked cowboy crooner Orville Peck, who collabed with 91-year-old Willie on a brand new version of the track in 2024.

It starts off slowly, shrouded in fear; then the beat kicks in, the song builds in confidence, and by the end, now backed by a string section, it’s a full-bore disco anthem of self-assurance. On its beautiful face, Gloria Gaynor’s ‘I Will Survive’ is about a woman getting over the guy who done her wrong; but in 1978, as gay liberation was gathering steam in heated nightclubs around the world, it also played like a declaration of hard-won pride (‘I used to cry / But now I hold my head up high’) and independence from the hetero norm (‘I’m not that chained-up little person still in love with you’). In the 1980s, when AIDS wiped out tens of thousands of those who danced to it, the song took on new layers of resonance. Today, ‘I Will Survive’ carries all of that baggage, and lifts it up along with the spirits of anyone who hears its message. Did you think we’d crumble? Did you think we’d lay down and die? Think again. We’re going to dance.

Six years after scoring a No. 1 hit called ‘Freedom’ with Wham!, George Michael crushed the charts with this tune of the same name. The redundancy was the point. Michael was destroying his past, writing over it, melting it away with acid house. In the video, the symbols of his ‘Faith’ fame burned and crumbled—his leather jacket, the guitar, the Wurlitzer. The pop star didn’t appear in the video himself, instead putting his words in the mouths of godly women from the golden age of supermodels—Campbell, Evangelista, Turlington, Crawford. The lip-synching proclaimed: Take this song, anyone, everyone, it is yours. (Though the less said about the Robbie Williams version, the better.) When Michael came out, spectacularly, in 1998, the pointed lyrics gained a whole new level of resonance. 

Lil Nas X became a legend when he invaded the good ol’ boys’ country club with ‘Old Town Road’. He became an icon with ’Montero’, a supercharged hit dripping with raw sexuality. His unabashed individualism and embrace of hookup culture made him a trailblazer in the world of hip hop, but nobody would have paid attention if the song wasn’t an absolute bop. Nas says he’s only here to sin. Giving into the temptation to join him is extra easy when the beat is as sick as ‘Montero’.

‘Look around: Everywhere you turn is heartache.’ That’s not exactly a fluffy opening shot for a dance-pop song—and that’s the point. Recorded at the height of America's AIDS crisis and inspired by New York’s underground gay ball scene (famously documented in the 1991 film Paris Is Burning), Madonna’s deep-house–inflected 1990 smash commands you to leave the heavy stuff aside—if only for a few minutes—and find salvation on the dance floor. Nearly a quarter of a century later, this classic track from one of the most beloved gay icons of all time sounds no less imperative. 

Though Seattle singer-songwriter Mike Hadreas first came to prominence making fragile, melancholy songs hidden behind a piano, he reinvented the program with this single from his 2014 opus, ‘Too Bright’. Blaring ’80s-pop synths, orchestral flourishes and lustrous backing vocals make for a triumphant party banger about turning the things other people see as ‘broken’ into your armor and strength, all achieved with a smirk—‘No family is safe / When I sashay.’

Taken from MUNA’s self-titled record, this glistening pop song features guest vocals from Phoebe Bridgers and swiftly became a modern classic after it dropped in the summer of 2021. With so many songs being focused on longing and heartbreak, it’s so very important to have queer joy reflected in music. And with lines like ‘Life’s so fun, life’s so fun / Don’t need to worry about no one / She said that I got her if I want / She’s so soft like silk chiffon’, this track is just a blissful celebration of queer love and powerful sapphic energy that instantly makes you smile.

It starts off slowly, shrouded in fear; then the beat kicks in, the song builds in confidence, and by the end, now backed by a string section, it’s a full-bore disco anthem of self-assurance. On its beautiful face, Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” is about a woman getting over the guy who done her wrong; but in 1978, as gay liberation was gathering steam in heated nightclubs around the world, it also played like an declaration of hard-won pride (“I used to cry / But now I hold my head up high”) and independence from the hetero norm (“I’m not that chained-up little person still in love with you”). In the 1980s, when AIDS wiped out tens of thousands of those celebrants, the song took on new layers of resonance. Today "I Will Survive" carries all of that baggage, and lifts it up along with the spirits of anyone who hears its message. Did you think we’d crumble? Did you think we’d lay down and die? Think again. We’re going to dance.—Adam Feldman

 Download on Amazon