Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be 50 Essential Albums by LGBTQ Artists, representing a varied cross-section of genres, styles and time periods. Considering that the qualifier “LGBTQ” can often be open to various interpretations, for the purposes of this particular list, we have defined an artist as LGBTQ if he, she or they have ever publicly identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer. Moreover, albums by groups have been included in the list if any of their members fit the aforementioned criteria, even if some members do not.
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RUFUS WAINWRIGHT | Release the Stars
Geffen (2007)
Selected by Quentin Harrison
Canadian troubadour Rufus Wainwright never closeted himself for the sake of music politicking. Over four LPs, Wainwright invited people into his kaleidoscopic reality of love and life. Release the Stars, Wainwright’s fifth record, took his modern singer-songwriter purview a step further on this twelve-track affair. Intricate, artsy folk (“Tiergarten”), coruscating rock-soul (“Between My Legs”) and sweeping, art-pop (“Sansoucci”) abound and gave Wainwright some of his finest reviews at the time.
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