She bends genr clichés, scg dienc wh each breathtakg performance. k.d. lang—born on the Canadian prairie, exiled om Nashville’s untry-mic clique—has skyrocketed to pop stardom wh her sensuo platum album, Ingénue. Takg a break om her globe-hoppg, lang tells Llie Bens about growg up gay, animal rights, fdg her voice, and clowng around on a V.F. photo shoot wh Cdy Crawford.
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THE INTERVIEW: GAY IN KD LANG ON WHY EVEN SHE IS BAFFLED BY OUR GENR-FLUID TIM
* kd lang gay *
I thk culturally had relevance beg sort of the person of the moment [who was] out and reprentg a part of the gay culture and fightg for equaly. I was jt out there as a champn of the gay muny, and the club scene at that time — bee of AIDS and all the homophobia that arose out of that awful perd history — seemed to be an important cultural vortex for g together. Lang released the album Ingénue and publicly me out as gay.
A llectn of dance club remix of songs om Miss Chatelae to (Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls, produced and played gay bars between 1992 and 2000, lang is more like the subject than the creator of the album. "At the time, she was an emergg untry mician – a world away om the gay unrground.
"On my days off I was the diss dancg wh plastic bags wrapped around me as a sort of performance art piece the gay clubs, and then gog to work on my days on, drsed as a untry sger, sgg untry mic". "Obvly, I knew I had e out and as a pop star that was kd of a rare occurrence … but felt like was a necsy bee homophobia was rampant at that time.
IS K.D. LANG GAY?
This ncert DVD me out last bee gay artists aren’t on Queerty 24/7 don’t mean they don’t exist or aren’t popular anymore. She beme a homophobic punchle before Ellen. "She beme a homophobic punchle...
I absolutely LOVE her and I'm a gay man. But this is not the first time the genre has been subverted; 27 years ago, fan of soft tailorg and lowerse letters kd lang released Constant Cravg, a song so suggtive of lbian longg that beme the sapphic anthem for unrequed one of the first openly gay lbians pop – she me out, agast her label’s wish and to a eply nservative untry genre, an terview wh the Advote 1992 – Lang never shied away om rporatg her inty to her mic.
” But bee she wasn’t tradnally feme-lookg, and bee she was a lbian, at a time when beg an openly gay woman was sperately unol, she beme a punchle. Lang’s fluence on a new generatn has breached the cultural surface, but this time ’s gayer wh more gg. Orville Peck’s inty might be ncealed behd his mask but the openly gay mician is phg the boundari of untry.