As I often sing instead of the proper lyrics, ‘My Life Would Suck Without The Support Of Kelly Clarkson, Gay Icon’. If Kelly Clarkson was a homophobe, eight-year-old me screaming ‘Since You Been Gone’ at the Year 5 Disco would have been deeply upset in ways he didn’t quite understand yet. Thankfully, she’s not, so my inner closeted-and-sweaty-at-the-disco child can keep screaming those words.
Still, this week Clarkson has defended herself from criticisms of being “small-minded” after a former contestant on The Voice said she felt boxed in Clarkson comparing her to other gay singer-songwriters.
The comment came from Molly Stevens, a contestant on the show who was eliminated last week. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Molly expressed disappointment at being compared to Melissa Etheridge and The Indigo Girls, believing Clarkson did so in part because they’re all gay musicians.
“While I’m extremely honoured to be in that category of talent, I do believe that comment did us all a disservice and only threw us into a labelling trap,” she wrote.
“It felt small minded to me and exactly what I feel we need to bring attention to in the world. I am a singer-songwriter who happens to be gay. And so is @melissa_etheridge and the @indigogirlsmusic… people put us in boxes.”
A screenshot of the now-deleted post. (Image credit: Instagram.com)
Which, totally. Queer musicians are often lumped in together, where their identity becomes a genre. Many artists have expressed frustration over being constantly evaluated through their identity first, music second.
When our sister site PEZ interviewed Troye Sivan last month, he talked about the uncomfortable expectations of being a “queer act”, where your music is confined to a particular audience and context. On one level, it’s wonderful to be embraced by a community: on another, it’s frustrating to feel locked-out of wider success because you’re the “gay pop star”.
It’s understandable why Stevens would believe it to be a somewhat disappointing comparison. But Clarkson took to Twitter to defend herself, noting that she also compared Stevens to not-gay folk singer Patty Griffin, “a name that was left out conveniently”, and that comparisons were in relation to her raspy vocal qualities and “that she’s an amazing storyteller.”
Wow. This really bums me out. I need everyone 2 hear me & hear ALL OF THE WORDS I SAY. I compared Molly to Melissa Etheridge, Patty Griffin (a name that was left out conveniently), & the Indigo Girls purely because of the rasp in her voice & that she’s an amazing storyteller. https://t.co/Ci5fqDKzA3
— Kelly Clarkson 🍷💔☀️ (@kellyclarkson) March 27, 2018
Which, yes. Totally. It’s also worth noting here that Clarkson has been a vocal LGBTIQA+ ally since her American Idol days, which, given her country star power, is pretty significant. We reckon the whole thing was just a compliment that Stevens had heard a few too many times before – and perhaps sometimes those comparisons weren’t meant as positively as Clarkson intended them to be.
In good health, Stevens has since apologised on Twitter, emphasising she looks up to Clarkson.
https://twitter.com/mollystevens_1/status/978791946520027136
Alls well that ends well. You know what you need to celebrate this utter whirlwind of cancelled then un-cancelled pop icons?
Image credit: The Voice US
