Trans Influenced Rock: The 1980s, 1990s, and Beyond…

“Dude looks like a lady…” –– Aerosmith

The early 1980s saw massive change in the music industry. Many acts from the 1970s found their record sales dwindling, and public interest in music had dropped to dangerously low levels. Children were now spending their quarters on video games instead of music, and it became apparent that there needed to be change in the industry. Executives anxiously waited for ‘the next big thing’…

Their prayers were answered with the onset of the British “New Wave.” Dozens of bands with tuneful pop songs and highly fashion-conscious images made their way onto the North American record charts. Also, the relatively new medium of the music video evolved from being a novelty to a legitimate marketing tool. Image became as important, if not more so, as the music. Artists with varying degrees of trans in their image reaped the benefits of the new interest in video. Eyeliner and lip gloss once again became de rigueur for the discerning rock star. Duran Duran, megastars of the period, all wore makeup, and generally favored light-colored pastel clothing. Though criticized and ridiculed by some for their image, they nonetheless packed arenas full of screaming teenaged girls, graced the covers of countless magazines, and sold millions of records in the process.

While bands like Duran Duran walked a fine line of androgyny, the New Wave gave pop one of its first truly overt transgender stars. George O’Dowd, better known as Boy George, and his band Culture Club became huge stars in North America and across the globe despite, and perhaps partially because of, his openly transgendered look. Though standing well over 6 feet, Boy George presented a completely feminine image. He wore his hair long, in a feminine style, full face makeup, and dressed in loose flowing clothing. Even his singing voice was soft, and female. He became an instant hit with the media, and the band reaped the rewards of pop stardom.

(Unfortunately, with such quick success often comes an equally quick descent, and Boy George found himself in trouble with drugs, the law, and band-less by the late ‘80s. Thankfully he did manage to recuperate, and went on to sing the theme song of Neil Jordan’s transgendered blockbuster film The Crying Game.)

At the opposite end of the gender spectrum from Boy George was Annie Lennox with Eurythmics. Though males exploiting feminine traits in rock music was nothing new, the idea of a woman intentionally presenting a strong masculine image was a relatively new one. Lennox and her harsh, short cropped hair, man-style grey suits, and leather gloves was as far from ‘sweet’ or ‘feminine’ as one could imagine. Eurythmics scored immediate success with the single and accompanying video for Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). As the decade progressed Lennox’s image softened, leaving behind the ultra-butch look that launched the band’s success, eventually abandoning the look altogether. Still, Sweet Dreams is the song remembered for starting her career, and the image she presented is inevitably intermingled with the song.

By the mid-1980s the success of trans images in rock had made it all the way to the longtime bastion of over-stated masculinity, Heavy Metal. Twisted Sister (whose initials, ironically enough, are “TS”), with lead singer Dee Snyder, contrasted high-testosterone song themes like We’re Not Gonna Take It with caricatured female facial makeup. Other bands soon found lip gloss, eyeliner, and blush infiltrating their images. Faster Pussycat, Motley Crüe, White Lion, and countless other spinoff bands inadvertently formed their own sub-genre, Glam Metal. Even heavy metal legends Kiss traded their infamous theatrical makeup for more subtle looks and flowing neon clothes.

As the decade continued, many established acts began either experimenting with trans themes, or returning to trans images they hadn’t used since earlier in their careers. Queen had rode to success in the mid-1970s during the height of the Glam Rock movement, exploring images forged by stars such as David Bowie and Lou Reed. Lead singer Freddie Mercury’s onstage preening and posturing created the image of a modern dandy, and the rest of the band also experimented with makeup and flashy onstage clothing. Even the band’s name hinted at transgender slang, and songs such as Killer Queen (from 1974’s Sheer Heart Attack) experimented with trans characters and themes. But as the 1970s ended and the interest in Glam Rock waned Queen, like many bands, changed their image and left much of the ‘glaminess’ behind. In 1984, however, they returned to their roots with an obviously trans-inspired video. I Want To Break Free featured the entire band in full drag, and went on to become a huge hit.

As in the ‘70s, as the decade drew to a close interest in transgendered images again began to wane, though with a few notable exceptions. Aerosmith scored a hit in 1987 with Dude (Looks Like A Lady), about a crossdresser. Lead vocalist Steve Tyler appears briefly in drag in the video. They again used the crossdressing theme in the 1993 video for Living on the Edge, which includes scenes of a trans high school teacher, and closes with scenes of the CD dressing.

Though transgenderism in pop and rock music has come and gone in waves over the years, as the 1990s continued it seemed as though the concept of a mainstream transgender star became more and more palatable to the public. Perhaps the best example of this phenomenon is RuPaul. A seasoned drag performer, RuPaul slowly made inroads into pop culture, through music, film, and television. Though the idea of Drag Queen as mainstream icon had been flirted with in the 1980s by Divine (who had minor dance club hits with You Think You’re A Man and Walk Like A Man), RuPaul was able to take the acceptance one step further. She hosted a television show on the U.S. cable network VH1 in the fall of 1996, and that was just the start of her ascent as the host of RuPaul’s Drag Race which has become an international sensation. As time has passed, and the novelty of the Drag element has waned, RuPaul has shown that talent can prevail regardless of what clothing a person might be wearing.

What the future holds for transgendered imagery and performers is anybody’s guess. Time has shown that the popularity of trans influenced in music has come and gone like many trends, but as overall public acceptance has increased (evident in the success of such films as The Crying Game, To Wong Foo – Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar…, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) the idea of a sustainable transgender star has become more possible. Perhaps in the future we will see music icons whose transgenderism is not their only claim to celebrity. Until then, throw on some makeup, and put some Bowie, Lou Reed, or Culture Club in the CD player, and enjoy the stars we already have.

(The section of this article on RuPaul has been edited to update it with her successes after the 1990s.)

Since this article was published on TGForum in the 1990s more and more “out” transgender performers have debuted. Wikipedia has a list of over 100 transgender and non-binary musicians and singers.

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Tags: featured, music, Musician, Transgender

Category: History, Music