“Well-researched and brimming with intrigue, Bullock’s comprehensive study not only makes the work of scores of musicians sing anew; it also demonstrates how the pendulum of acceptance can swing from era to era.”
—Kirkus (starred review)
“A wonderful encyclopedia of queer music, an encyclopedia with a plot: the history of one hundred years of social change … Ambitious, wide-ranging, unpredictable, fast-paced, and highly informative, David Bowie Made Me Gay is also very entertaining.”
—Christopher Bram, author of Gods and Monsters and Eminent Outlaws: The Gay Writers Who Changed America
“A whirlwind tour through how queer musicians have changed the rhythm and the beat of music and culture for almost one hundred years. Everyone knows that music is sexy, and sex is better with the right music—and LGBT people have been pushing the boundaries of music and sex for decades … This book does not miss a beat … A must read for anyone interested in, or fascinated by, music and popular culture.”
—Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States and Professor of Practice in Media and Activism, Harvard University
“A look back at a century of LGBTQ music, [Bullock’s] history lesson serves as a primer of a movement in which Bowie was key.”
—Billboard
“A highly comprehensive history of LGBT music, spanning a century from early jazz and blues to today’s most recognizable pop stars out of the closet. Bullock meticulously chronicles the LGBT community’s vast influence on music through a historical lens, revealing how society’s oscillation between acceptance and persecution has shaped what we listen to today.”
—The Washington Blade
“A fun and enlightening read, Darryl Bullock’s David Bowie Made Me Gay is to popular music what William J. Mann’s Behind the Screen is to Hollywood filmmaking: a convincing account of the hitherto ignored influence of LGBTQ people in a popular medium … Bullock’s treatment of the past 100 years is an engaging ‘one-stop’ of many genres—[its] detailed coverage of women’s music is welcome—and uniquely inclusive of both the US and UK. A valuable addition to the history of popular music as well as queer studies, and should appeal to general readers of all sexualities.”
—Vicki L. Eaklor, author of Queer America
“Music fans are likely to treasure this tome as it highlights the contribution from many artists now forgotten or, in some cases, unappreciated during their lifetimes. It also demonstrates that not only have there been LGBT recording artists since the dawn of recorded music but many did little to hide their sexual orientation.”
—Gay Star News
“David Bowie Made Me Gay recovers the lost history of music made by, and for, the LGBTQ community. Bullock touches on artists as unalike and historically far-flung as the flamboyant ragtime-era pianist Tony Jackson … [whose music], decades before Lady Gaga’s gay-positive song ‘Born This Way’ hit the airwaves, gave hope to fearful, isolated LGBTQ kids.”
—Publishers Weekly