If you’re not a Robyn fan, you’re not gay. Or so they say. I told Robyn about this POV from the gay Twitter collective when I called her direct on Skype recently – it was [...]
When Queen shot to fame in the '70s the band's bridging of rock and classical music shook the music industry in an unforgettable way. Now, heading to the Meadowbrook Ampitheatre on Oakland University's Campus, audiences [...]
In 2012 U.K. artist Lucy Spraggan took the music world by storm when at 19 she auditioned for "The X Factor" with an original song "Last Night (Beer Fear)." An instant hit, the track got [...]
Taylor Swift is a gay icon on the job! Céline Dion is flying! Katy Perry is not sexualizing buffets! And then, there’s MIKA, your “Ice Cream” man, and country queen Tanya Tucker’s stately comeback single, [...]
"Pride & Joy: The marvin Gaye Musical" is the story of the Motown legend who, among his other accolades, earned 18 pop Top 10 hits and was eventually inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall [...]
Located in Hart Plaza, Detroit, this Memorial Day weekend thousands of people across the U.S. and the world will gather for the Movement Music Festival. Attendees will be able to celebrate Detroit's electronic music and [...]
Los Angeles-based DJ Slushii has worked with artists like Marshmello, Ookay and Jauz. Now coming to Detroit, he'll be performing hits from his latest album "Dream." Find out more about tickets on ticketmaster.com.
Known for such hits as "I've Done Everything for You," "Don't Talk to Strangers" and "Jessie's Girl," Rick Springfield has been a heartthrob since the '80s. Fans of the Grammy Award-winning musician can mark off [...]
Have you balanced atop and dangled from an aerialist in midair, nothing holding you to him but his strength and yours? Or boomeranged Spidey-style from end to end of a sports arena, like Detroit’s Little [...]
PHOTO Credit: Lillie Eiger Returning to the Detroit area after a critically acclaimed tour last year, Florence + The Machine is coming back to the Detroit area to play at the DTE Energy Music Theatre. [...]
There’s something for every color of the rainbow included in this year’s music-release roster. The list is long, but here’s a taste: debuts from "Pitch Perfect" star Ben Platt and hair-toss kween Lizzo, songwriter showcases [...]
10. Jussie Smollett, "Sum of My Music" No way "Empire" star Jussie Smollett was about to let a label – in his case, not just any label but Sony – stifle his musical ambitions. So he [...]
Whether escorting fans on a seasonal tour of the universe, providing a musical accompaniment to some of the brain's most key neurotransmitters or removing song titles from an EP altogether, Angel Vivaldi's artistic vision has [...]
After overcoming a battle with drug addiction and an HIV-positive diagnoses, musician Brennan Villines jumped into the national spotlight with a showstopping performance on Fox's "The Four." Villines imprinted upon viewers not only his musical [...]
Only a few months after the success of her pop song "Flowerbomb," Siena Liggins is back with the release of her second single, "Naked," out today — with a tailor-made campaign to promote body confidence, [...]
Whether it was the result of fate or serendipity won't ever be clear, but it was a fortunate thing for Ben Sharkey that he knocked over a pile of his roommate's CDs as he cleaned [...]
If Old Taylor Swift was dead, the massive animatronic cobra that slithered onto Detroit's Ford Field on Tuesday night was the 28-year-old music luminary's incarnate, as New Taylor deliciously acted the insidious part written for her [...]
Sarah Shook had the makings of an artist from an early age. By 9 years old it wasn't uncommon to see her writing songs, poems and short stories that would become the precursors to the [...]
Dress off. Hair down. "Flowerbomb." Like many sexual experiences, there's a slow but powerful build, and it takes Siena Liggins' brand-new song a full minute to drop. But at that point, it's still far from over. As [...]
Even in prison, Shea Diamond was a star. The concrete floor her stage, the men her audience. And the acoustics? “The best,” Diamond says. The 40-year-old soul songstress stretched her body over the hard ground, [...]
The pessimism of their name aside, Liz and the Luckouts are a safe bet if you’re looking for “Detroit rock 'n' roll, just raw rock 'n' roll,” said Gretchen Domino, who plays bass and joins in on vocals. “Our sound is hard to describe.”
Will the opportunity to spend an intimate evening of song and music with cast members from the national touring production of “On Your Feet” motivate enough people to jump to their feet on the evening [...]
Few artist are willing to take on topics as complex as the prison industrial complex, painkiller addiction and faith — let alone on one album — but the Indigo Girls certainly don't shy away from [...]
Falling in love, as thrilling as it is, requires a huge level of vulnerability. That immensely happy and slightly uncomfortable feeling is encapsulated in Rachael Cantu’s most recent music video “You’re the Most.” Its dreamy [...]
That Britney album better come quick – preferably before the world combusts from nuclear warfare. On the horizon for the rest of what’s shaping up to be a very gay 2018 outside of Brandi Carlile’s recently released must-hear masterwork? New Robyn, new Kylie, new Troye. If only our current political era was as promising as this year’s albums-release slate.
Take a look at his picture, and there’s no getting around it: Detroit native and dance music sensation Simon Black is a little unusual. “I’ve always danced to the beat of my own drum,” Black said. “I used to think that was something bad. But now I don’t.” Black traces his love of music to his formative years in the 1980s. “I was an ‘80s baby and MTV was new,” he said. “The artists that were hot at the time are the ones who inspired me to be who you see today: Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson.” Madonna, especially, spoke to young Mr. Black.
That Britney album better come quick – preferably before the world combusts from nuclear warfare. On the horizon for the rest of what’s shaping up to be a very gay 2018 outside of Brandi Carlile’s [...]
It’s been nearly five years since Detroit-based recording artist Logan Mario sat down for an interview with BTL. Since that time, Mario has been busy. When last we spoke Mario had just released “Love is [...]
Never one to take it slow, 21-year-old Lansing rapper Mikeyy Austin has released a full-length album, a mixtape and multiple singles in two years. Now, the emerging artist is cooking up another project, a mixtape [...]
Ever since The Ark got its start in Ann Arbor in 1965, it was envisioned as a place for University of Michigan students to be able to gather together in a creative space. Four local [...]
Donald Trump is still tweeting (oh yeah, and somehow still president). Free internet porn could be a bygone luxury thanks to #RIPNetNeutrality. But hey, music in 2017 didn't suck! Read on for the music that [...]
The resistance is in full swing, with late-night talk show hosts railing against Donald Trump's total incompetence as president and oppressed communities uniting to rally for equality. But they're not the only ones giving freedom, [...]
Kesha, 'Rainbow' Don't be surprised if Kesha needed "Rainbow," her first album since 2012's "Warrior," as much as the queer kids questioning their place in this mad, queer-resistant world do. Her comeback album's soaring first [...]
Kesha, 'Rainbow' Don't be surprised if Kesha needed "Rainbow," her first album since 2012's "Warrior," as much as the queer kids questioning their place in this mad, queer-resistant world do. Her comeback album's soaring first [...]
Mary J. Blige, 'Strength of a Woman' Fear not, weary gays, the rock that is Mary J. Blige is here to save the day with new muses - see: drama - for her latest serving [...]
Ryan Adams, 'Prisoner' Ryan Adams, known in part for making Taylor Swift cooler to pop-resistant granola girls (he recorded, in full, a beautiful version of her Grammy-winning "1989" behemoth), is back to his old tricks [...]
Bette Midler, 'The Divine Miss M: Deluxe Edition' Long before Bette Midler became social media's beloved socio-political rabble-rouser, before "Wind Beneath My Wings" and your annual viewing of "Hocus Pocus," she was singing the soundtrack [...]
Frank Ocean, 'Blond' The genius of Frank Ocean's intimate second release is its scant emphasis on sexuality. Despite the attention given to Ocean's queerness after his groundbreaking coming out in 2012, when the gifted Grammy [...]
'The Complete Trio Collection,' Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt Nowhere in the backstory notes to the "The Complete Trio Collection" does it say that when Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt finally [...]
Lori McKenna, 'The Bird & the Rifle' Music Row's renowned wordsmith Lori McKenna doesn't exactly bury this casual burn, but still, you might miss it. You might because Lori McKenna's exceptional 10th studio album teems [...]
Everyone has their own theory about Beyonce's "Lemonade." Is it about her marriage to Jay Z? Her father's infidelity? America's pervasive racism and its wrenching consequence: the slaughtering of innocent blacks? Is it about Orlando [...]
Cyndi Lauper, 'Detour' Girls just want to have... a country album? If you're Cyndi Lauper and your repertoire is as delightfully ADHD as hers - the American Songbook, pop ear-candy, the blues, a damn musical [...]
Gwen Stefani, 'This Is What the Truth Feels Like' Poor Gwen Stefani, all heartbroken on "Used to Love You," the launch single from her long-delayed album that set the stage for what seemed like a [...]
Sia, 'This Is Acting' Before she rebranded herself as a behind-the-scenes scribe for mainstream pop giants, Sia reveled in authenticity. Every feeling was pure - and even if it didn't reflect her life, you believed [...]
10. Madonna, 'Rebel Heart' In 2015, it was strange hearing Madonna sound so... human. A cluster of cuts from the queen's 13th studio album imparted a rare authenticity and striking vulnerability typically not ascribed to [...]
David Bowie, 'Five Years 1969-1973' The iconic cover of the U.K. edition of David Bowie's 1971 release "The Man Who Sold the World" features the queer icon sprawled out in a silky gown, pensively gazing [...]
Internationally acclaimed countertenor Terry Barber has teamed up with 17-time Grammy-winning "Classical Producer of the Year" Steven Epstein (of yo-yo ma, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Placido Domingo, etc) to create "Christmas Presence," a collection of [...]
Janet Jackson, 'Unbreakable' With her nipple safely tucked away, Janet Jackson resurrects a bygone bondage-less sound that's more "Good Times" than straight up sexy time. No "Would You Mind"-type on-tape masturbation. No "Damita Jo"-era "Sexhibition." [...]
Carly Rae Jepsen, 'E*MO*TION' Carly Rae Jepsen came out of nowhere, seized radio, dug a hole in your head and planted a little song there named "Call Me Maybe." It grew and grew. It grew [...]
Miguel, 'Wildheart' Carnal sex is the gateway to bittersweet romanticism on Miguel's modern-lust-and-love odyssey, "Wildheart." And the pompadoured R&B seducer's third studio album is not beating around the bush. Or is it? In the most [...]
