The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time)

Celebrated writer Andrew Holleran once said, 'If you love music, you may find yourself in the curious position of following a young man not because he is sexually interesting (or even sexually possible) but because the radio he carries is playing 'Do or Die.' '

An astute remark from a gay man who understands the stimulating, unifying effects great music can have on its listeners. But what makes an album great? And perhaps even more critical for this list, what makes a great album gay?

To create our list of the 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums of All Time, we polled more than 100 actors, comedians, musicians, writers, critics, performance artists, label reps, and DJs, asking each to list the 10 albums that left the most indelible impressions on their lives. After receiving responses from Boy George, Rufus Wainwright, Cyndi Lauper, the Indigo Girls' Amy Ray, Candis Cayne, Perez Hilton, Nate Berkus, Jake Shears, John Cameron Mitchell, Wilson Cruz, Justin Bond, Darren Hayes, Junior Vasquez, Bruce Vilanch, Janis Ian, the Cliks, Ari Gold, Holly Johnson, and a slew of others, we tallied the results to determine our top-100 list.

You'll notice we expanded the catalog to include not only records by queer musicians but also any records that have had relevance to those voting. While albums by Elton John, k.d. lang, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, and Ani DiFranco appeared time and again on the lists, many celebrities included what they consider gay masterpieces by mostly straight acts like ABBA, Donna Summer, and, of course, Madonna.

SLIDESHOW: So here they are: the seminal, flamboyant, trailblazing, gender-bending, campy, theatrical, audacious, unforgettable albums that changed our lives.