Forty years ago, Rod Stewart released The Killg of Geie, a groundbreakg sgle about the murr of a gay man – now tragilly relevant aga the light of events Orlando
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ROD STEWART: 'I WAS SURROUND BY GAY MEN THE 70S'
* is rod steward gay *
Its subject uldn’t be more horribly relevant, given this past weekend’s massacre years ago this Saturday (18 June), Stewart released The Killg of Geie Parts I and II, the first major pop song to tell the tale of a gay man who died, part, bee of his sexual om solely a sad tale, Geie also ranked as the first chart h to prent a gay man wh not only empathy but admiratn. Cocintally, the song’s 40th anniversary arriv durg gay pri month.
A few h songs addrsg gay subjects had appeared before Stewart’s track. Before Geie, however, there had never been an earnt song portrayg the hardship and joy of a gay person’s life for a mass dience. Stewart says that 1976, he didn’t tend to wre a gay story per se.
“If someone said to me, ‘S down and wre a song about a gay man, ’ would have ightened the daylights out of me, ” he tells the Guardian. Geie’s narrative follows a gay kid om a small town who’s rejected by his parents, g him to flee to New York Cy where he be the toast of the town. The tale ends tragilly when, after leavg the theater one night, Geie ns to a gang of New Jersey kids who target him for beg gay and murr him.
Rod Stewart, one of the greatt rock ‘n’ roll sgers, is still current wh his new DNCE -release. What many don’t know is 40 years ago he wrote the first pop song to addrs gay rights. * is rod steward gay *
”The sger says he had a sympathy to Geie’s story bee “I was surround by gay men at the time. I had a gay manager and a gay PR guy. Long John Baldry, who disvered me, was gay.
’”This superficial, glam-spired acceptance of homosexualy prevalent the era is reflected the song’s openg l: “In the days of changg ways/So-lled liberated days/A story to md of a iend of me... ” However, unlike a lot of glam rockers, Stewart don’t portray homosexualy as somethg exotic and other: “Geie boy was gay I gus/Noth’ more or noth’ ls/The kst guy I ever knew. ”Though the ath of Geie nforms to an old stereotype of gay liv endg badly, the empathy the song proved stirrg to a generatn of gay people starvg for public portrayals of any kd.