Photo by Victoria Stevens
Artists
Brandy Clark
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Brandy Clark is one of the most respected singer-songwriters in music — within the country genre and beyond. In addition to working with stars like Reba McEntire, Sheryl Crow, Kacey Musgraves, and Miranda Lambert, Clark has been a prominent name in her own right since she released her debut studio album, 12 Stories, in 2013.
Clark’s work routinely garners critical acclaim. In 2015 she was nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammys — just one in a slew of career nominations from the Recording Academy — and she added a Tony nomination to her belt this year for the acclaimed Broadway musical Shucked (she cowrote the music and lyrics alongside Shane McAnally).
“I feel like my job in that is to write about situations and feelings we all experience and set it to music,” Clark says of her calling.
Between Shucked and releasing a self-titled album produced by Out100 cover star Brandi Carlile, it’s been a standout year for Clark. The projects debuted within six weeks of each other, making her especially proud. “Both were real labors of love,” the lesbian artist attests. “Shucked was a 10-year road, and my album was a brave new step for me in working on it with Brandi Carlile.”
In terms of obstacles to her dreams, Clark has wrestled with self-doubt. However, she says, “I overcome it by just stepping forward even when I don’t know if there’s going to be solid ground to step on.”
This perseverance — Clark is also touring this fall — is part of the message she wants to send to the world about LGBTQ+ equality. “We can do anything,” she says. “We are not limited in what we can do based on stereotypes that have been put on us. That our lives and love matter.” @thebrandyclark
Artists
Troye Sivan
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Photo by Stuart Winecoff
It’s been five years since Troye Sivan’s second studio album, Bloom, was released to much acclaim. And Something to Give Each Other, which came out this October, was well worth the wait.
Sivan and his art routinely spark conversation in pop and LGBTQ+ culture. “Rush,” the album’s lead single that dropped in July, is no exception. It became (along with Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam”) the queer song of the summer. The steamy music video, an explosion of dancing, abs, and hedonism, unleashed its own rush of think pieces about popper use and body diversity in queer spaces.
Sivan, who as an actor had a role this year on The Idol — Max’s much-skewered scripted show on pop stardom— also made headlines for his candor this year. He revealed on the High Low podcast that, despite the reputation he received from 2018’s “Bloom,” which was widely received as a bottom anthem, he is, in fact, not a “power bottom.”
Whatever his preferences, Sivan has proven himself a versatile artist. The release of Something to Give Each Other was Troye’s proudest accomplishment of 2023 — along with the launch of Tsu Lange Yor. The Australian lifestyle and homeware brand, for which Sivan serves as creative director, sells candles and scents as well as home objects. “My brother and I started it together, had to trust our guts, find incredible people to work with, and have learnt so much along the way,” the 28-year-old says.
In art and in life, Sivan remains inspired by his community. “Through so much adversity, the LGBTQ+ community pushes to be a safe space for all — pulled together by pillars of love, support, chosen family, and freedom,” he says. “Queer people everywhere need to be protected and be able to celebrate themselves as loudly as they want.” @troyesivan