Qstack Pride Dance Party

Last dance, last chance...

Friends of friends at Spotify reached out with a Pride music wrap-up and asked us to share it with all of you, so here we are!

What struck me is the almost total shut-out of male performers—only Troye Sivan, George Michael (💔), RuPaul, and Benny and Björn from Abba made it on the list. There are so many wonderful queer male performers out there, but—and remembering this is a listener-driven list—women still dominate when it comes to queer anthems. Discuss.

Photo by Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash

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PRIDE LISTENING ON SPOTIFY

“Born This Way” by Lady Gaga is the most-added song across Pride playlists on Spotify, followed by:

• (2) “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross (for years, my husband believed this was a Michael Jackson song)

• (3) “Believe” by Cher

• (4) “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston (💔)

• (5) “Vogue” by Madonna

• (6) “Dancing Queen” by ABBA

• (7) “I Kissed A Girl” by Katy Perry

• (8) “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn

• (9) “Rain On Me (with Ariana Grande)” by Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande

• (10) “Toxic” by Britney Spears

Lady Gaga is the most-added artist to Pride playlists on Spotify, followed by:

• (2) Madonna

• (3) Ariana Grande

• (4) Britney Spears

• (5) Katy Perry

• (6) Beyoncé

• (7) Whitney Houston

• (8) Diana Ross

• (9) Kylie Minogue

• (10) Dua Lipa

Soundtracking Pride by Age Demographic

• Some of the most distinctive Pride tracks for Gen Z listeners on Spotify include “girls” by girl in red, “Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan, “i wanna be your girlfriend” by girl in red, “Sailor Song” by Gigi Perez, and “LUNCH” by Billie Eilish.

• Some of the most distinctive Pride tracks for Millennial listeners on Spotify include “Rush” by Troye Sivan, “Guess featuring billie eilish” by Charli xcx & Billie Eilish, “RUNWAY” by Lady Gaga & Doechii, and “Padam Padam” by Kylie Minogue.

• Some of the most distinctive Pride tracks for Gen X listeners on Spotify include “Supermodel (You Better Work)” by RuPaul, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls, “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge, and “Freedom!” by George Michael.

Anthem Streaming Spikes

• As listeners around the world celebrate Pride each June, streams of beloved LGBTQ+ anthems surge on Spotify. Here’s a look at how these anthems performed:

  • “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan +270% vs. average

  • “100% Pure Love” by Crystal Waters +240% vs. average

  • “Dancing Queen” by ABBA +200% vs. average

  • “Vogue” by Madonna +175% vs. average

  • “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross +170% vs. average

  • “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga +160% vs. average

And last but not least, here’s an all-time favorite (am I showing my age yet?) that defined an entire era of queer dance music—on YouTube—because c’mon Spotify, you really need to make it easy to embed videos in social media.

I’m agog—nay, shocked!—that the Queen of Disco didn’t at least make it onto the Gen X playlist.

Truth be told I was only a wee lass at the time, but still. “Hot Stuff”…? “Love to Love You Baby”…? “Last Dance”…!? Do better, musical historians—there’s gold under them there disco balls. ❤️🍊💛💚💙💜🩷🩵🤎🖤🩶

“One day in Berlin Eno came running in and said ‘I have heard the sound of the future!’. He puts on I Feel Love by Donna Summer and said ‘This is it, look no further, this single is going to change the sound of club music for the next 15 years’, which was more or less right.”

— David Bowie, Sound + Vision liner notes, 1989 (from Steve Pafford’s “45 at 45: the story of Donna Summer’s impossibly influential ‘I Feel Love’”)