Richard Fairbrass

Richard Fairbrass born 22 September 1953

Richard Fairbrass is an English singer and television presenter, born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey and raised in East Grinstead, West Sussex. He is the singer with the band Right Said Fred alongside his brother Fred Fairbrass, who became very popular for a short time in the UK in 1991 with their number 2 hit I'm Too Sexy, which they followed with the number 3 Don't Talk Just Kiss and in 1992 Deeply Dippy, which was a number 1. Since then they have only occasionally troubled the lower reaches of the charts although they have had success in Europe and elsewhere.

I'm Too Sexy has entered popular culture and is often spoofed or parodied in shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.

He is very open about his sexual orientation (bisexual) and once co-hosted (with Rhona Cameron) a TV series aimed at a lesbian and gay audience called Gaytime TV on BBC2.

In 1994 he was joint winner of Rear of the Year with Mandy Smith.

In 2001 he co-presented the television game show The Desert Forges for channel Five.

Right Said Fred returned with a new album in 2007 following a successful appearance in a Daz 'soap opera' commercial.

Ironically [or not] brother Fred was always sexier...

George Chakiris

George Chakiris born 16 September 1934

George Chakiris is an American dancer and Academy Award winning film actor.

Chakiris was born in Norwood, Ohio to Greek immigrants. He made his film debut in 1947. For several years he appeared in small roles, usually as a dancer or a member of the chorus in various musical films. He was one of the dancers in Marilyn Monroe's Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend number in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and also appeared as a dancer alongside Rosemary Clooney in White Christmas. He can also be seen in the 'Chop Suey' number in the musical film Flower Drum Song.

His biggest success came with the film West Side Story (1961), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Bernardo. He also acted (along with Gene Kelly) in Jacques Demy's French musical Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967).

Chakiris has also appeared on Broadway and television. In the early 1960s, he embarked on a career as a pop singer which resulted in a couple of minor hit songs (In 1960, he recorded one single with legendary producer Joe Meek).

After film work dried up, he worked steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, appearing on such shows as Medical Center, Hawaii Five-O, Dallas, Murder, She Wrote and the TV daytime drama Santa Barbara. Chakiris last acted in a 1997 episode of the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine and has given occasional television interviews since then. He is mostly retired and has taken up jewellery-making as an occupation.

Jermaine Stewart

Jermaine Stewart born 7 September 1957 (d. 1997)

Jermaine Stewart was an American dancer and singer best known for the worldwide hit We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, William Jermaine Stewart always loved to dance. At school, he would often give dance lessons to other children for a $1 a lesson.

In 1972, the Stewart family moved to Chicago. It was here that Jermaine took his first steps towards a career in show business. He joined a local dance group, and went out on the road with The Chi-Lites and The Staple Singers. This was followed by stints on both American Bandstand and later Soul Train. By the early 1980s, he joined the classic Hewitt/Watley/Daniels line up of Shalamar on tour as a backing vocalist and dancer.

The next step was to launch his own singing career. He took his first tentative steps by providing backing vocals to several established acts such as The Temptations and notably, Culture Club. Jermaine can be clearly heard as a vocal support to Boy George on the track Miss Me Blind.

It was his work with Culture Club which lead to a solo recording contract with Clive Davis' Arista Records (10 Records in the UK), thanks to the help of Culture Club's Mikey Craig. His first single The Word Is Out in 1984, preceded an album of the same name the following year. The Word Is Out charted in the US R&B and Billboard Charts.

Despite some initial success his debut didn't prove to be the career launch pad that Arista initially intended. Jermaine's next album therefore was focused much more on securing radio and club airplay, under the guidance of some of the hottest American producers of the 1980s.

John "Jellybean" Benitez produced two highly danceable tracks on Jermaine's second album Frantic Romantic, but it was Narada Michael Walden, a hit recording artist in his own right, who penned and produced the song that would forever be associated with Jermaine Stewart, We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off. The song, supported by a strong video, became an international success, riding into the Billboard Top 5, & also hitting number 2 in the UK.

The album quickly went on to become a million seller, and a second single, Jody was released, the inspiration of the song being Jody Watley of Shalamar. Jody reached both the UK and US top 50.

Jermaine's third album, Say It Again, was probably his most successful internationally. The title track became Jermaine's second major US hit. In the UK, it reached number 7, helping the album into the top 40. His next three singles were remixed by 80s pop supremos PWL, helping Jermaine secure widespread European success. At this point, Jermaine was highly focused on the mainstream pop market. His fourth and final album under his contract with 10/Arista Records, What Becomes A Legend Most? was filled with radio friendly catchy pop tunes. The first single Tren De Amor was a minor UK hit but commercial success eluded the album, and a label change followed.

In 1992, Jermaine teamed up with Chicago producer Jesse Saunders for his last recorded work, an unreleased album for Reprise Records. Entitled Set Me Free, the album marked a return to his earlier style. The title track was released as a single in the US, but found little success. The album remains unreleased.

The rest of the 1990s saw Jermaine battling long term illness. He did, however, begin recording a new album in 1996, which remains unfinished and unreleased.

Jermaine Stewart died on 17 March from liver cancer caused by HIV/AIDS.

Ironically, his biggest hit We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off, with its safe sex message, was one of the first mainstream pop responses to the AIDS crisis.

Sylvester

Sylvester James born 6 September 1948 (d. 1988)

Sylvester James was an American disco and soul musician, and a gay drag performer. He mostly performed using only his first name, Sylvester. Known for singing in falsetto (despite a rich baritone voice), he is also considered one of the first Hi-NRG artists. He was raised by his grandmother, the jazz singer Julia Morgan. Sylvester was the first 'male diva' of disco.

Sylvester James was born in Los Angeles, California. Living in San Francisco in the 1960s, he performed in a musical production called Women of the Blues, then joined a short-lived group of drag performance artists called The Cockettes in the early 1970s. (Divine was a member of the group as well.) Sylvester can be seen in the Cockettes' outrageous short film Tricia's Wedding, lampooning the wedding of President Nixon's daughter Tricia, and in an eponymous 2002 documentary about the group.

In 1972, Sylvester supplied two cuts to Lights Out San Francisco, an album compiled by the KSAN radio station and released on the Blue Thumb label. In 1973, Sylvester & his Hot Band released two rock-oriented albums on Blue Thumb (their self-titled debut was also known as 'Scratch My Flower', due to a gardenia-shaped scratch-and-sniff sticker adhered to the cover). He signed as a solo act to Fantasy Records in 1977, working with the production talents of legendary Motown producer Harvey Fuqua.

Sylvester soon met his frequent collaborator Patrick Cowley. Cowley's synthesiser and Sylvester's voice proved to be a magical combination, and pushed Sylvester's sound in an innovative new dance-oriented direction; his second solo album, Step II (1978), unleashed two disco classics: You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), and Dance (Disco Heat). By this time both his live shows and recordings also recognisably featured the back-up vocals of Two Tons O' Fun: future Weather Girls Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes. 1979 brought three Billboard awards and an appearance in the movie, The Rose, starring Bette Midler.

Moving to Megatone Records in 1982, Sylvester and Patrick Cowley quickly landed a Hi-NRG classic with Do You Wanna Funk? He was close friends with other Megatone artists Linda Imperial and Jeanie Tracy. Sylvester was also very close to the legendary Patti LaBelle.

Later pressure from the label to 'butch up' his image would result in him attending meetings in full-on drag. A drag photo shoot, which he staged and presented to label heads as a gag (calling it his 'new album cover') would later grace the cover of Immortal after Sylvester died; it was the label's way of paying tribute to his spirit.

In 1985, one of his dreams came true as he was summoned to sing back-up for Aretha Franklin on her Who's Zoomin' Who comeback album. His sole Warner Bros. album was Mutual Attraction in 1986; a single from the album, Someone Like You, featured original cover art by Keith Haring.

Like so many others, including Patrick Cowley before him, Sylvester died of complications from AIDS in San Francisco on December 16, 1988. He was 40 years old. His good friend Jeanie Tracy took care of Sylvester during his last days.

On September 20, 2004 Sylvester's anthem record, You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. A year later, on September 19, 2005, Sylvester himself was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievement as an artist.

In 2005, a biography written by Joshua Gamson and titled The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, The Music, The 70s in San Francisco was published.

You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) is definitely one of the greatest dance records ever made and a personal favourite.

Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury born 5 September 1946 (d. 1991)

Freddie Mercury was the king of Queen. I first heard Queen in 1973 when the debut single Seven Seas of Rhye was released. I knew they were something different as soon as I heard them. I bought and loved Killer Queen and Now I'm Here when they were released and of course Bohemian Rhapsody is now musical history.

Queen were the group that made me grow up musically. I loved them. I instinctively understood their music and I adored and played to death their early albums - Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night At the Opera, A Day At the Races, News of the World, Jazz - eagerly bought as soon as they came out when I was at school.

With the 1980s, their music lost much of its magic, power and mystery for me. They were the biggest band in the world, and I still liked them but I no longer loved them with a passion and even stopped buying their records, although with The Miracle and Innuendo, they seemed to be returning to form.

But one Sunday morning in November 1991, Freddie Mercury was on the front of the Sunday papers - he had issued a press statement confirming that he had AIDS. Suddenly there was a reason for their lack of touring, for his frail and gaunt appearance, the heavy make-up he appeared to wear in videos. I was very upset by this news but worse was to come. The following day, I woke up to the news that Freddie was dead. Like many others, I was devastated and remained so for days. Freddie's death still has the power to touch me even now. Documentaries about Freddie and Queen can still prompt tears. Queen made some dreadful records, especially later, and did some terribly naff things - I particularly wish now that Brian and Roger would stop - but when they were good, they were unbelievably good and genuinely changed the face of rock music.

Freddie Mercury was one of the most technically accomplished singers ever to perform in popular music, making Queen's songs notoriously difficult to cover well. Freddie also wrote some of the most wonderful music I have ever heard and I will always treasure my love of early-Queen. Side two of Queen II still gives me the shivers, Bohemian Rhapsody can still get me when I'm in the right mood.

Incredibly, had he lived. Freddie Mercury would now have been in his sixties. I can't imagine that because my Freddie is as he is pictured above - so beautiful, exotic and amazing.

Rob Halford

Rob Halford born 25 August 1951

Robert John Arthur Halford is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for the heavy metal band Judas Priest. Halford is known for his multi-octave range, high-pitched screams, leather-clad image and showing up on stage on a motorcycle (usually a Harley-Davidson). His stud-leather style has been widely adopted by heavy metal performers and fans around the world, most of whom little knew the look's origins in gay leather culture.

Halford was born in Sutton Coldfield in Warwickshire, England. He sang for numerous bands including Athens Wood, Lord Lucifer, Abraxas, Thark and Hiroshima. In May 1973, he joined Judas Priest after being suggested to them by his sister Sue, who was dating bass player Ian Hill.

Between 1974 and 1990, Rob Halford recorded 14 albums with Judas Priest, along the way becoming the archetypal heavy metal singer. Around 1977 he began to cultivate his now famous leather-clad and sunglasses-wearing persona and began riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle on stage during live performances. The stunt caused a memorable accident during the '91 Toronto date of the Painkiller tour when he hit a half-engaged drum-riser obscured by clouds of dry ice. He broke his nose and fell off the motorcycle, tumbling off-stage. After regaining consciousness, Halford returned and performed the whole concert. In the band's Behind the Music episode, Rob named the accident as one of the events that caused the rift between him and the rest of the band that would eventually force them apart. While Halford is certainly the best known figure in rock for the leather outfits and on-stage motorbike, this aspect of his act had actually been pioneered some years earlier by Eric Bloom of Blue Öyster Cult.

After a 20-year career with Judas Priest that saw the band achieve international fame, Halford left the band in 1991. He first formed the band Fight with Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis, recording two albums between 1993 and 1995. After Fight, he collaborated with guitarist John Lowery in an industrial-influenced project called 2wo which was produced by Trent Reznor and released on his Nothing Records label.

In 1998, Halford revealed he was homosexual in an interview on MTV. His sexual orientation had always been known to the rest of Judas Priest and came as little surprise to fans as his sexual orientation was somewhat of an open secret among fans and among the Heavy Metal press. The response from the heavy metal community has been widely accepting.

Halford returned to his metal roots in 2000 with his band Halford and the widely acclaimed album Resurrection (2000), produced by Roy Z. A live album in 2001 was followed up by 2002's Crucible. That same year, Halford had a small role in the film Spun in which he played a gay sex store clerk.

A reunion with Judas Priest had been speculated on for some time, at least since the release of the Resurrection album which some critics claimed sounded more like Judas Priest than that band's previous album Jugulator (1997). Halford himself had never ruled it out, claiming in 2002 that 'Gut instinct tells me that at some point it will happen'. In July of 2003, the singer returned to his former band and they released Angel of Retribution in 2005. The world tour that accompanied the release marked the band's 30th anniversary.

Rob Halford has also performed as the vocalist for Black Sabbath at three shows. He replaced Ronnie James Dio for two nights in November 1992, when Dio elected not to open a show for Ozzy Osbourne. Halford stepped in, having first spoken to Dio, with whom he has a good relationship. He also replaced Osbourne in Black Sabbath on August 25, 2004, his 53rd birthday at an Ozzfest show in Camden, New Jersey, since Ozzy could not perform due to bronchitis.

George Melly

George Melly born 17 August 1926 (d. 2007)

Alan George Heywood Melly was an English jazz and blues singer and writer. From 1965–1973 he was a film and television critic for The Observer. He also lectured on art history, with an emphasis on Surrealism.

He was born in Liverpool and was educated at Stowe school, where he discovered his interest in modern art, jazz and blues and started coming to terms with his sexuality. This period of his life is described in Scouse Mouse, a volume of his autobiography.

He joined the Royal Navy at the end of the Second World War because, as he quipped to the recruiting officer, the uniforms were 'so much nicer'. As he related in his autobiography, Rum, Bum and Concertina, he was crestfallen to discover that he would not be sent to a ship and was thus denied the 'bell-bottom' uniform he desired. Instead he received desk duty and wore the other Navy uniform, described as 'the dreaded fore-and-aft'. Later, however, he did see ship duty. He never saw active combat, but was almost court-martialled for distributing anarchist literature.

After the war Melly found work in a London surrealist gallery, working with E L T Mesens and eventually drifted into the world of jazz music, finding work with Mick Mulligan's Magnolia Jazz Band. This was a time when jazz was very popular in Britain - a time known as the trad-boom.

He retired from jazz in the early 1960s when he became a film critic for The Observer. He also became the writer on the Daily Mail's satirical newspaper strip Flook, illustrated by Trog. He was also scriptwriter on the 1967 satirical film Smashing Time. This period of his life is described in Owning Up.

He returned to jazz in the early 1970s with John Chilton's Feetwarmers, a partnership that only ended in 2003. He later sang with Digby Fairweather's band. He released three albums in the 1970s including Nuts in 1972 and Son of Nuts the next year. He wrote a light column – Mellymobile – in Punch magazine describing their tours.

He was an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association. He was also a member of the Max Miller Appreciation Society and on 1 May 2005 joined Roy Hudd, Sir Norman Wisdom and others in unveiling a statue of Miller in Brighton.

His singing style, particularly for the blues, was strongly influenced by his idol, the American Blues singer Bessie Smith. While many British musicians of the time treated jazz and blues with almost religious solemnity, Melly rejoiced in their more bawdy side, and this was reflected in his choice of songs and exuberant stage performances. He recorded a track called 'Old Codger' with The Stranglers in 1978 especially written for him by the band.

Technically, Melly was bisexual, but moved from strictly homosexual relationships in his teens and twenties to largely heterosexual relationships from his thirties onwards. He married twice and had a child from each marriage. He married his second wife, Diana, in 1963. Their son, Tom, was born two days after the wedding. In 2005, Diana published an autobiography of their life and (open) marriage together. In an incident that others might have considered hugely embarrassing, Diana and George participated in a televised celebrity couples quiz in the 1970s. Asked separately what made them decide to marry, Diana announced 'I was pregnant!' and George, in his turn, merely said, 'The less said about that, the better.' At the time this was considered scandalous.

He was still active in music, journalism, and lecturing on Surrealism and other aspects of modern art until his death, despite worsening health problems such as vascular dementia, incipient emphysema and lung cancer.

In addition to age-related health problems, Melly suffered from environmental hearing loss due to long-term exposure to on-stage sound systems, and his hearing in both ears became increasingly poor. On Sunday 10 June 2007, George Melly made an appearance, announced as his last ever performance, at the 100 Club in London. This was on the occasion of a fund-raising event to benefit the charity supporting his carers.

He died at his London home of lung cancer aged 80 on 5 July 2007

Christian Chávez

Christian Chávez born 7 August 1983

Christian Chávez (born José Christian Chávez Garza) is a Mexican singer and actor best known for his role as Giovanni Méndez López in Rebelde - in Mexico. Elsewhere he is known for another reason entirely.

The success of Mexican soap Rebelde led to the band RBD, which is gaining success in the United States. Although Chávez became famous with Rebelde, he appeared in another popular telenovela, Clase 406 along with some of his Rebelde co-stars.

Chavez hit the headlines in Mexico, and around the world, in March 2007 when pictures emerged in the media of him signing documents and exchanging rings with a man in 2005, the year in which gay marriages became legal in Canada.

Forced to make a statement, Chávez said the photos showed a part of him that he had not been willing to discuss previously in fear of rejection, of criticism, but especially for his family and its consequences. This made him one of the first public figures in staunchly-Catholic Mexico to come out, indicating a gradual changing of attitudes in the country.

He is also noted for his endlessly changing bright hair colours.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright born 22 July 1973

Singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright has built a successful career with witty lyrics and rich melodies that have earned him comparisons to Cole Porter and George Gershwin. Wainwright cites Al Jolson, Edith Piaf, and Nina Simone as artists who were among his early inspirations.

Wainwright comes from a distinctly musical family. His father is American folk-singer and humorist Loudon Wainwright III, and his mother is Canadian folk-singer and songwriter Kate McGarrigle. Born in Rhinebeck, New York, Rufus Wainwright grew up in Montreal, where his mother made her home after his parents separated when he was three and subsequently divorced. His sister Martha is also a singer songwriter.

At the age of fourteen Wainwright discovered that he was gay and came out publicly. He has consistently been forthright about his sexual orientation.

His self-titled first album came out in 1998. His sophisticated tunes were compared to the work of Harry Nilsson and George Gershwin. Rolling Stone magazine named him the best new artist of the year. He also resisted suggestions by his record company bosses that he play down his sexuality, which, even today, is unusual.

Wainwright's second album, Poses (2001), showed him maturing as a musician and was well received by both critics and his fans. In the same year, he contributed songs to the films I Am Sam, Shrek and Moulin Rouge, which brought him to a wider audience.

While his career was flourishing, his personal life was troubled. He became addicted to alcohol and drugs, including methamphetamines. In addition, he was depressed. He took to meeting men over the internet and engaging in loveless affairs. To break this dangerous pattern, Wainwright went into rehab and therapy. Upon his recovery, he plunged back into his work, creating new material for the albums Want One ( 2003) and Want Two (2004), which have seen him break through internationally to a yet wider audience, although he has still to break through fully into the mainstream.

Wainwright is a singer with complete security of intonation, even over a dense accompaniment. In addition to being a pianist, he can also play the guitar, often switching between the two instruments when performing live. While some of his songs feature just Wainwright with his piano, many songs are accompanied by various instruments and backing vocals, some songs even by a symphony orchestra, displaying rather complex layering and harmonies with an operatic feel. Wainwright is an avid opera fan, and the influences on his music are evident, as well as his love of Franz Schubert's Lieder. Some of Wainwright's songs have been described as 'Popera' (Pop Opera) or 'Baroque Pop'.

In June 2006 Wainwright played a pair of sell-out shows at New York's Carnegie Hall where he recreated Judy Garland's entire 1961 performance with special guests. He recreated this performance at the London Palladium in 2007.

His album Release The Stars was released in May 2007. His first opera Prima Donna, a four-handed story of a day in the life an opera diva with a libretto in French, premiered at the Manchester International Festival in 2009 to mixed reviews. A sixth studio album was released in spring 2010.

Cheyenne Jackson

Cheyenne Jackson born 12 July 1975

Cheyenne Jackson is an American actor and singer from Newport, Washington.

Jackson made his Broadway debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. He later served as the standby for the character of Radames in Aida, then originated the role of Matthew in the off-Broadway production of Altar Boyz. In 2005, he originated his first Broadway leading role in the musical tribute to Elvis Presley, All Shook Up. His performance as Chad earned him much critical praise, the Theatre World Award, as well as nominations from the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor.

In 2006, Cheyenne portrayed Mark Bingham in Universal Pictures' Academy-Award nominated film United 93, directed by Paul Greengrass. He also starred Off-Broadway in playwright Nicky Silver's The Agony and The Agony with Victoria Clark.

Regionally in the US, Jackson has appeared as Tony in West Side Story, as Joey in The Most Happy Fella, as Cain in Children of Eden, as Berger in Hair, as Billy Bigelow in Carousel, as Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees, as Rocky in The Rocky Horror Show, and as The Poet in Kismet, among many other productions. Early in his career, Cheyenne worked as a back up singer for Vanessa Williams, Heather Headley, and Liza Minnelli.

In June 2007, Jackson assumed the lead role of Sonny on Broadway in Xanadu. He replaced actor James Carpinello who had been injured during rehearsal. Previous workshop productions of the musical starred Cheyenne and Jane Krakowski. However, both Jackson and Krakowski opted out of the initial Broadway run, citing schedule conflicts. His performance as Sonny would go on to earn him nominations from the Drama League and Drama Desk for Outstanding Lead Actor.

In 2008, Cheyenne re-teamed with Jane Krakowski and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) to star in New York City Center's production of Damn Yankees.

He has guest starred on television series including: Lipstick Jungle, Life on Mars, Ugly Betty, and has a recurring role on the award winning NBC series, 30 Rock. On March 15, 2010 Jackson made his guest-starring debut on the long-running NBC series, Law & Order.

In March 2009, Jackson made his nightclub debut at Feinstein's at Lowes Regency with a sold out one man. He later teamed up with Michael Feinstein to create a well-reviewed nightclub act titled 'The Power of Two'. A CD of the show was released on November 3, 2009.

In October 2009 Jackson opened on Broadway to positive critical reviews reprising the role of Woody Mahoney in the Broadway revival of the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow.

Tab Hunter

Tab Hunter born 11 July 1931

A product of Hollywood’s golden age, Tab Hunter - born Arthur Andrew Kelm - became Hollywood’s golden boy as one of the first teen idols .

His first starring role, at the age of 19, was opposite Linda Darnell in the romantic South Seas adventure Island of Desire. An instant success, Hunter went on to star in over 50 films. Tab also enjoyed a brief but very successful recording career that culminated with one of the top records of the rock and roll era. His recording of Young Love spent weeks at the number 1 spot on the charts worldwide. Apparently, his success lead Warner Bros to form Warner Bros Records.

Tab subsequently starred in his own television series for NBC, was nominated for an Emmy for his performance opposite Geraldine Page in Playhouse 90’s Portrait of a Murderer and has guest starred in over 200 television series episodes. He also appeared on Broadway with Tallulah Bankhead in Tennessee Williams’s The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore.

Tab’s film career took off once again in the 1980s/90s as he starred in such films as John Waters’ Polyester, Grease 2, and the cult comedy-Western Lust in the Dust, his second film with Divine.

In his autobiography Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star he admitted that he was gay, confirming rumours that had circulated since the height of his fame in the 50s. Hunter also confessed to having two love affairs with women, one with whom he was passionately in love. He was passionately in love with co-star Etchika Choureau, while simultaneously, secretly dating bisexual actor Anthony Perkins. He wanted to marry Etchika but couldn’t picture himself being heterosexually monogamous and backed out. His other opposite sex relationship was with Joan Cohn, widow of Columbia Pictures mogul, Harry Cohn.

He lives in California with his partner of 25 years, film producer Alan Glaser.

TabHunter.com

Neil Tennant

Neil Tennant born 10 July 1954

Neil Francis Tennant (born in North Shields, Tyne and Wear, England) is an English musician, who, with his colleague Chris Lowe, makes up the successful pop duo, Pet Shop Boys.

As a child, Neil attended St Cuthbert's Grammar School, an all-boys' Catholic school in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. (Sting went to the same school.) Neil's songs This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave and It's A Sin refer to his early life in Catholic school and the strict Catholic upbringing there. It's A Sin caused controversy with its implicit criticism of Catholic education.

In 1975, having completed a degree in history at North London Polytechnic (now London Metropolitan University), Neil worked briefly as an editor for Marvel UK, the UK branch of Marvel Comics. He was responsible for anglicising the dialogue of Marvel's catalogue to suit British readers, and for indicating where women needed to be redrawn more decently for the British editions! In 1977, he moved to Macdonald Educational Publishing and, later, ITV Books. In 1982 he joined the now-defunct British pop magazine Smash Hits, where he rose to Assistant Editor.

At Smash Hits, an opportunity arose for him to go to New York to interview The Police. Whilst there, Tennant arranged to meet Bobby Orlando, a producer who both he and Lowe admired. Tennant mentioned that he was writing songs in his spare time and Orlando agreed to record some tracks with him and Lowe at a later date. Orlando subsequently produced the Pet Shop Boys' first single West End Girls.

The longevity of Pet Shop Boys' career is generally attributed to their ability to create melodic pop/dance music with intelligent lyrics and striking musical and visual style. The duo are one of the most consistently successful duos in pop music, particularly in Europe. Since 1986, they have had 39 top thirty singles in the UK including four number ones.

Although Tennant avoided the issue of homosexuality in the 1980s, preferring his lyrics to be ambiguous, shortly after the release of 1993's Very he publicly 'came out' in Attitude, a UK gay lifestyle magazine.

Marc Almond

Marc Almond born 9 July 1957

Marc Almond (born Peter Mark Sinclair Almond in Southport, Lancashire) is a popular English singer, songwriter and recording artist, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell.

Almond has recorded albums solo, as well as with his band Marc Almond and the Willing Sinners, and as a member of Marc and the Mambas alongside The The's Matt Johnson, and Annie Hogan, with whom Almond would later collaborate on his solo records. In addition, he has also collaborated with a wide range of artists including Antony and the Johnsons, Jools Holland, Kelli Ali of the Sneaker Pimps, Neal X (on the albums Fantastic Star and Open All Night), Marie France, Agnes Bernelle, P J Proby, Nico, Lydia Lunch, Nick Cave, Gene Pitney on the #1 UK single Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart, Siouxsie Sioux, Foetus (aka. J G Thirlwell), Jimmy Somerville, Psychic TV, Coil, Sally Timms of the Mekons, King Roc, John Cale and David Johansen of The New York Dolls and German band Rosenstolz.

Almond initially shot to fame in the early 80s as one half of synth duo Soft Cell, whose combination of drama and peep show sleaze set to an electronic beat gave them hits such as the legendary Tainted Love (UK #1), Bedsitter (UK #3), Torch (UK #2), Say Hello Wave Goodbye (UK #3), Soul Inside (UK # 16), What? (UK #3) and the club hit Memorabilia.

Although Soft Cell disbanded in 1984 just before the release of their third album, This Last Night In Sodom, the duo reunited in 2001 for live shows and in 2002 released a new album entitled Cruelty Without Beauty, from which the single The Night (UK #39) was taken.

His solo singles have enjoyed mixed chart success. The biggest hits have been cover versions: the aforementioned 1989 #1 duet with Gene Pitney and another near chart-topper in 1991 with David McWilliams' The Days of Pearly Spencer, which peaked at #4 in the UK. In 1985, he duetted with Jimmy Somerville and Bronski Beat on a cover of Donna Summer's I Feel Love (Medley) and it hit #3. The highest UK positions his self-penned singles have reached so far have been Stories of Johnny (#23 in 1985), Tears Run Rings (#28 in 1988) and Adored and Explored (#25 in 1995).

His work runs the gamut from electronica and dance music to French chanson, traditional piano ballads, and Russian romance songs, as exhibited on his 2003 album Heart on Snow. Influences include David Bowie, a childhood hero of his, as well as early 60s Northern Soul and disco. Other major influences have been Scott Walker from the Walker Brothers and Jacques Brel, 12 of whose songs Almond reworked in English for his 1989 album Jacques.

Almond's own lyrics are a creative expression of what he sees and are not to be confused with his own life. He also operates a record label, Blue Star Music, on which he has released many of his solo and collaborative records in the UK. In 1999, he received attention and accolades for his autobiography, entitled Tainted Life, which confronts details of his early life, creative ventures, his sexuality, and drug addiction, for which he was hospitalised in 1994. Almond wrote the autobiography without a ghost writer, and his publishers subsequently commissioned him to write a travel book, In Search of the Pleasure Palace: Disreputable Travels, whose publication in 2004 was accompanied by a book-signing tour.

On 17 October 2004, Almond was critically injured in a motorcycle accident in which he was a pillion passenger in London. Although the initial prognosis was considered poor, he was discharged from Royal London Hospital in November 2004 and was said to be making a "remarkable" recovery.

In 2005, he continued his recovery, did some DJ gigs all over Europe and guested at the Meltdown Festival in London in June 2005, hosted by Patti Smith. Almond contributed two songs to this night of Brecht music, Bilbao Song and What Keeps a Man Alive. In October, November and December 2005, Almond went on tour with Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, singing two songs during the shows, Say Hello Wave Goodbye and Tainted Love, which had a new arrangement done by Holland. 2006 saw Almond concentrate on recording, making few public appearances, though he did headline the Manchester Gay Pride Festival in August of that year.

In 2007 Almond released a new album of cover songs, Stardom Road. The album also includes one new self-penned song, Redeem Me (Beauty Will Redeem the World), his first composition since the near-fatal motorbike accident. Marc also appears on the 2006 album Black Ships Ate the Sky by experimental band Current 93. He is also working on a DVD compilation of all his promotional video clips as well as his 'last ever' self-penned album, tentatively titled Dining with Panthers, which is due to be completed in 2008.

Almond made his return to the London stage for a three-night run at the historic Wilton's Music Hall from May 4-6 2007. These were his first full-length UK shows since his accident. He had been warming up with shows in Barcelona, Athens and Moscow. He performed further live dates in the UK in 2007, including a Radio special broadcast on BBC Radio 2, and a 50th birthday concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on July 9th 2007.

Almond currently lives in the Bermondsey area of South East London. In his autobiography he describes previously living in Earls Court, in a converted church in Chelsea and most memorably in Soho's Berwick Street, where he lived in a flat overlooking the Raymond Revue Bar.

In June 2010, Almond released Varieté, his first studio album of self-penned songs in almost a decade. Almond has stated this will be his last fully self-penned album. He also announced a new concert tour to celebrate his 30 years in music.

Fred Schneider

Fred Schneider born 1 July 1951

Fred Schneider, born in Newark, New Jersey, is best known as the frontman of the rock band The B-52's, of which he is a founding member.

Schneider is well-known for his quirky sprechgesang, to which he adds a distinctive swish.

The B-52's were formed by Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson with drummer Keith Strickland, guitarist Ricky Wilson (Cindy's older brother) and vocalist Fred Schneider after a drunken night at a Chinese restaurant and played their first gig in 1977 at a St Valentine's Day party for friends.

The B-52's sound is marked by the vocals and lush harmonies of Wilson and Pierson, and the generally monotone or spoken-word vocals of Schneider.

The band's quirky take on the New Wave sound of their era was a combination of dance and surf music set apart by the unusual guitar tunings used by Ricky Wilson. Their costume thrift-store chic set them apart as well. The band made a great impression with their early singles Rock Lobster, Private Idaho and Planet Clair and their eponymous debut album in 1979. Wild Planet followed in 1980, followed by a mix album, an EP and a third album, Whammy! in 1983.

In October 1985, the band were devastated by the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson, from what was originally reported to be cancer, but was later revealed to be AIDS. The band's recently-completed album Bouncing Off the Satellites (1986) went un-toured and unpromoted as the band went into an extended hiatus. However, the B-52's returned in 1989 with the album Cosmic Thing, which proved to be their biggest international success, spawning the worldwide hit Love Shack.

Subsequent releases have been less successful and sporadic, and various band members have undertaken solo projects and collaborations with artists ranging from R.E.M to Iggy Pop and Sophie Ellis Bextor. But the B-52's continue.

Fred Schneider has released two solo albums, but neither of these albums were as successful as any of the albums created by The B-52's.

The B-52's hold a fairly unique position in rock music in that all the founding male members of the band were gay.

Martin Smith

Martin Smith born 26 June 1957 (d. 1994)

Martin Smith was a Scottish actor and singer.

After various appearances on television and in the film Yanks (1979), Martin Smith is best known for his appearance as Micky Doyle in long-running TV soap Crossroads from 1985-86.

Martin Smith was also a fine singer and made appearances in the West End in musical theatre, including Che in Evita. He featured on a Cole Porter tribute album A Swell Party - A Celebration of Cole Porter (1992) singing Love For Sale as it was originally intended to be sung - by a man. He also appeared in a production of William Finn's March of the Falsettos at the Library Theatre in Manchester in 1987. He recorded several concerts with BBC Concert and Radio Orchestras and was a regular vocalist on the BBC Radio2 shows Songs From the Shows and Friday Night Is Music Night in the 1980s.

Martin Smith died from an AIDS-related illness in 1994

I was lucky enough to see Martin in March of the Falsettos but am unable to find out much about him. If you can add any information then please leave a message.

Labi Siffre

Labi Siffre born 25 June 1945

Singer, songwriter, playwright and poet Labi Siffre was born to a Barbadian/Belgian mother and Nigerian father in London.

He is probably best known for his two biggest hit songs It Must Be Love (1971) later covered by Madness, and the Ivor Novello award-winning anti-Apartheid song (Something Inside) So Strong (1987).

In recent years he has concentrated on expressing himself through theatre and poetry, although he released an album of new material in 2006.

He met his partner, Peter Lloyd, in 1964 and in December 2005, after more than 40 years together they became civil partners.

Official site

George Michael

George Michael born 25 June 1963

Born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou in East Finchley, London, George Michael first found fame with his school friend Andrew Ridgely in the hugely successful 80s pop duo Wham! But George was always really a solo artist with a best mate along for the ride and he released two successful solo singles - both now classics - Careless Whisper (1984) and A Different Corner (1986). In '86, the inevitable happened and Wham! split.

George Michael has released relatively few solo albums in the ensuing 20+ years but has achieved global record sales of 80 million, mostly in the early years when he was truly a global superstar.

Faith (1987), which spawned 4 US number 1 singles, Listen Without Prejudice Vol 1 (1990), Older (1986), Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael (1998), a poorly received album of covers Songs From the Last Century (1999) and Patience (2004). Another greatest hits album Twenty Five was released in 2006 to coincide with his first tour for 15 years.

George's solo career has been beset by a number of personal problems which have combined to dwindle his output and ultimately his success, although some beautiful music has come as a result: a 1993 court case with his record label; a reluctance to appear in videos; a refusal to tour for over 15 years; the death of his lover from an AIDS-related illness - George was still officially in the closet at this point; the death of his mother from cancer; and his arrest in 1998 for 'engaging in a lewd act' with an undercover police officer in a public restroom in a Beverley Hills park.

Ironically, this forced coming out boosted his popularity in the UK, gave him a huge hit with Outside and tied in with his Ladies & Gentlemen best of album. Less ironically, the scandal destroyed his career and credibility in a less-forgiving US, and he is no longer really a global superstar, although his 2006-8 live appearances demonstrated his resilience as a star and the strength of his (surprisingly brief) catalogue.

George Michael remains a great and enduring songwriter, a powerful and emotional singer, a charismatic performer and a celebrity we can't get enough of - even if he does take himself too seriously, is always having public spats with Elton John and mishaps in his several cars - allegedly due to his deep love of the demon weed. Michael claims to use cannabis as an aid to creativity and to fight off depression.

In 2006 George Michael undertook a successful arena tour of Europe and the UK - his first live tour for 15 years. Following this success, Michael undertook a major stadium tour in 2007 and in 2008 finally returned to North America to tour, also appearing on the American Idol 2008 finale.

In 2008 he announced two final shows for London's Earl Court and that he would once again retire from the live stage. In 2009 he duetted on Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me with eventual winner Joe McElderry on The X-Factor finale. He undertook a short tour of Australia in 2010 and appeared at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras after party.

In early-2008 he signed a major deal with Harper Collins to write a 'no-holds barred' autobiography.

Jai Rodriguez

Jai Rodriguez born 22 June 1979

Jai Rodriguez, born in Brentwood, New York, is an actor and musician best known as the culture guide on the Emmy-winning American reality television programme Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Rodriguez is a stage actor and singer known for his roles in the Broadway stage musicals Rent and Zanna, Don't! He has also acted in several plays. In 2005, he created and performed his own stage show, Jai Rodriguez: xPosed. xPosed told the story of Rodriguez' life and struggle to come out to his religious family - he is part Puerto Rican, part-Italian - and of his career on stage and in Queer Eye. His Queer Eye co-stars Ted Allen and Carson Kressley appeared as themselves.

In 2003 he became Queer Eye's resident 'Culture Vulture', functioning as the show's expert on the topic of culture, and the show's success brought him increased exposure. He was a replacement host for the show's original culture host, but was part of QE from the third episode.

In November 2005, while Queer Eye was on filming hiatus for two months, he joined the cast of The Producers on Broadway, playing the role of Carmen Ghia. He played a different role, that of Sabu, in the 2005 Producers movie.

As a singer, Rodriguez has performed on stage and as a recording artist. In 2002, he created his own musical cabaret show, titled Monday Night Twisted Cabaret, which ran at New York gay club XL for a year.

Rodriguez regularly appears on US TV hosting or taking part in various reality shows and, occasionally, as a actor.

In March 2010, Rodriguez appeared as a newscaster in the music video for Telephone, with Lady Gaga and Beyoncé.

(Boy) George O'Dowd

(Boy) George O'Dowd born 14 June 1961

Former-New Romantic, singer, songwriter, autobiographer, actor, superstar DJ, wit, raconteur, new age renaissance man, sexual terrorist and probably his own worst enemy, Boy George is a treasured and very British institution.

Arguably a future holder of Quentin Crisp's crown as one of the 'Stately Homos of England' he has enjoyed and destroyed more careers and got himself in more scrapes than most people can dream of.

George, we salute you.

Sam Harris

Sam Harris born 4 June 1961

Sam Harris is an Oklahoma-born singer, actor, songwriter and theatre director. 'Discovered' in the first season of US TV talent show Star Search at the age of 22, he has gone on to forge a successful career touring, on record and especially as a Broadway musical performer.

Harris is a Tony nominated actor in musical theatre, starring in Broadway productions of Grease, The Life, Cabaret, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Jazz Singer, among others. He has also appeared in films and TV shows.

Although encouraged several years ago to lend his talent to AIDS benefits, Sam Harris began to speak about his sexuality in the late 1990s and the recent ultra-conservative trend in America has inspired him towards greater openness and activism.

Harris and Danny Jacobsen, who is a director and presentation coach for numerous Blue Chip companies and also film producer, have been together since 1994. They adopted a son, Cooper Atticus Harris-Jacobsen, in April 2008 and the couple married on November 1, 2008.

When Sam sings, I'm perfectly all right, except for the fact that I can't breathe! I find myself crying and laughing and applauding and knowing why I went into this business. [Liza Minnelli]