Love Songs by Queer Artists
To celebrate Pride, some of the COOL HUNTING team’s favorite tunes by LGBTQ+ musicians
To celebrate Pride and all versions of love—romantic, platonic, familial, quiet, loud, playful, secret, spiritual, enduring—COOL HUNTING’s editorial team assembled a playlist. Eschewing gay anthems for love songs, the selections are by some of our favorite contemporary queer artists. Spanning genres and defying categories, every track is imbued with emotion—whether it’s about a brief dance floor romance or a transformative relationship.
From Raveena and Troye Sivan to Arlo Parks, Ezra Furman, SOPHIE and Rostam, many of these artist have appeared on COOL HUNTING before. There are a handful of staples and we hope some surprises, as well. A few songs are recent, but some have been with us for years. Although the tone may change, there’s beauty to each and every one.
Queer representation in arts and culture provides hope, whether it’s a work one can identify with or aspire to. These songs run the gamut of storytelling, and depict scenes that support our hearts, stir our spirit and help us understand that the LGBTQ+ community is stronger together. Of course, we appreciate big, bold anthems (and dream of days dancing together) and we’re grateful to all queer artists who have made, are making, and will make music for everyone, but these songs about love work a particular type of magic we found necessary right now.
Hero image courtesy Mykki Blanco’s BrokenHearts & BeautySleep album artwork
