In a year that felt at times completely chaotic and at others eerily familiar, one thing is for certain: 2022 never allowed you to let your guard down. Around the world, people struggled to cope as they watched the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the stripping of abortion rights in the U.S., inflation rising across the globe and more. They also celebrated as new breakthroughs in energy and medicine provided potential answers to long-looming problems.
Similarly, the music industry experienced plenty of highs and lows throughout 2022. Artists like Taylor Swift, Drake, Glass Animals and Bad Bunny had record-breaking years on the charts, while stars like Kanye West saw their careers practically go up in smoke around them. Music synchs on television shows like Stranger Things and Euphoria saw record gains, Ticketmaster got placed under the microscope for a massive public meltdown, and TikTok extended its reign over the trends dominating the industry.
When it came to living as an LGBTQ person, 2022 was less than stellar — the continued rollback of LGBTQ protections and rights in the U.S. and elsewhere was a major story throughout the year. Whether it was anti-trans initiatives being promoted by government officials, the loss of LGBTQ life at the hands of another homophobic hate crime, or even the World Cup being hosted by a country that has criminalized sexuality, this year was marked by pain for queer and trans people everywhere.
So, what stories in the music industry offered some respite for the LGBTQ people in need of an escape in 2022? Billboard took a look back at the 10 biggest LGBTQ music stories of 2022 to round out the year:
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Dove Cameron Rode "Boyfriend" To New Career Highs
Image Credit: Udo Salters/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images With the release of her single “Boyfriend” in February, Dove Cameron hit the reset button on her career. Gone was the image of a former Disney star, now replaced by a woman owning her queerness, repeatedly boasting of her ability to “be a better boyfriend than” her intended’s current significant other. With one song, Cameron suddenly found herself slowly working her way up the charts, marking her first solo appearance on the Hot 100 and peaking at No. 16 in June. By the time 2022 started to wrap up, Cameron had taken home two “best new artist” awards (at the VMAs and the AMAs, respectively), hit No. 1 on the Emerging Artists chart, and gone platinum for the first time with “Boyfriend.” If that’s what Dove Cameron can accomplish in a single year, just imagine what she’ll accomplish over the next decade of her now-burgeoning career.
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Trans Artists Spoke Out Against Texas Governor Greg Abbott
Image Credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images In a year where LGBTQ folks had a lot of wins, there were also a significant number of setbacks. One of the largest came from Texas, where, in late February, Governor Greg Abbott called on state agencies to investigate the parents of transgender families for child abuse. Billboard spoke with three transgender artists from Texas — p1nkstar (from Austin), Lorelei K (from Dallas) and Uncle Tino (from Houston) — about the effect that Abbott’s actions had on their communities, and on what people from outside of the state could do to support trans people in Texas. “It’s the unnecessary villainizing of people who are completely helpless that infuriates me — we’re talking about children and parents who are just trying to do their best,” Lorelei K told Billboard in March.
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Lil Nas X Raised Half a Million Dollars for HIV/AIDS Research
Image Credit: Charlotte Rutherford Sure, Lil Nas X spent 2022 taking shots at the BET Awards and embarking on his first-ever world tour. But perhaps the most signficiant contribution Lil Nas X made in 2022 was through his Montero “baby registry” that he had organized the year before in the run-up to his debut album — in March 2022, the rapper revealed that his initiative had raised nearly $500,000 for HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives in the Southern United States. Donating to 14 organizations that are a part of the Gilead COMPASS Initiative, Lil Nas said that “funds raised will go to people living with HIV and inspire a new generation of leaders who will keep pushing for HIV education, and one day, a cure.”
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Janelle Monáe, Emeli Sandé, Cynthia Erivo & More Stars Shared Their Truth
Image Credit: Emma McIntyre/WireImage Throughout 2022, dozens of celebrities shared their truths with the world by coming out publicly. In April, actress/singer Janelle Monáe revealed that they identified as non-binary and used both they/them and she/her pronouns on an episode of Red Table Talk. That same month, pop singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé came out by revealing that she was in a loving, committed relationship with an unnamed woman. In a July 2022 story for British Vogue, Cynthia Erivo revealed that she identifies as bisexual. Other musicians, including Peach PRC, Tevin Campbell and Isaiah Rashad, also came out throughout 2022.
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K-Pop Star Holland Broke His Silence on a Homophobic Attack
Image Credit: RIE/MyMusicTaste After suffering a homophobic attack in Seoul in May, openly gay K-pop star Holland spoke to Billboard about how he was approached by a man who called him “a dirty gay” and proceeded to violently attack him, while also commenting publicly on the lack of protection for LGBTQ people in South Korea. “I want people to recognize the pain as well as the courage that’s allowing me to share my story,” he said. “I want those who are feeling lonely to be comforted, but I also want people who take things for granted and live without the fear of being attacked to be shocked, because these crimes do exist.”
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Beyoncé Paid Homage to Ballroom Icons With ‘Renaissance’
Image Credit: Carlijn Jacobs* With its roots deeply embedded in Black queer culture, house music enjoyed something of a mainstream revitalization in 2022 — or rather, a Renaissance. Beyoncé not only gloriously luxuriated in a genre that deserved more credit with her seventh studio album; she brought some of its forerunners up with her for the ride. Along with dedicating Renaissance to her late gay uncle Johnny and “to all of the fallen angels whose contributions have gone unrecognized for far too long,” Bey featured a number of the underground queer icons who helped make house music what it was, including ballroom icons like Moi Renee, Kevin Jz Prodigy, MikeQ and Kevin Aviance. “The thought that she spent this whole time during COVID crafting this love letter — she heard us,” Aviance told Billboard following the album’s release. “I’m just so appreciative of this album, it does a number on me.”
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Maren Morris & Cassadee Pope Stood Up To Transphobia From Brittany Aldean
Image Credit: Harper Smith Good allyship is vital to a thriving community, as Maren Morris and Cassadee Pope proved in 2022. In August, Brittany Aldean — the “unapologetically conservative” wife of country singer Jason Aldean — spread hurtful anti-trans misinformation on her Instagram account calling gender-affirming care for minors “one of the worst evils.” In response, Pope tweeted that she was sick of seeing “celebs with beauty brands” comparing “their ‘tomboy phase’ to someone wanting to transition.” Morris quickly jumped onboard, calling Aldean “Insurrection Barbie,” and asking her to “not be a scumbag human… sell your clip-ins and zip it.”
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Steve Lacy Flew Up the Charts With "Bad Habit"
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo 2022 proved to be the year of slow-burn hits after Glass Animals completed an unprecedented 59-week run to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. But they were not the only stars to creep their way up the charts — Steve Lacy, the enigmatic and openly bisexual former member of The Internet, saw his single “Bad Habit” rocket up the Hot 100 after going viral on TikTok. It started out at No. 100 back in July 2022 — and after a mere five weeks on the chart it broke into the top 10. Eventually, even Harry Styles’ behemoth hit “As It Was” couldn’t stop “Bad Habit” from earning its No. 1 placement, becoming only the 12th song in history to go from 100 to 1 on the chart.
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Sam Smith and Kim Petras Made Hot 100 History
Image Credit: Courtesy Photo Reaching the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 is a career-defining feat on its own. But when Sam Smith and Kim Petras did just that in October 2022, the duo broke records for the LGBTQ community. “Unholy” — the much-hyped, sexed-up duet about daddies “getting hot at the body shop” behind mummies’ backs — became the first song ever to top the chart featuring an out non-binary artist and an out trans artist, respectively. The achievement was also a career-first for both Smith, who had previously peaked at No. 2 on the chart in 2014, and Petras, who had never scored an entry on the Hot 100 before “Unholy.”
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Elton John Closed His Final U.S. Tour With a Bang
Image Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images There’s no doubt that Elton John had a massive 2022 — after the breakout success of his Dua Lipa collaboration “Cold Heart” bled into the early months of the year, the star also managed to bring Britney Spears back into the musical limelight with their remix collaboration “Hold Me Closer.” But the biggest moment for John certainly came on November 20, 2022, when Sir Elton played what he claims is his final show for a U.S. audience at Dodger Stadium. Running through all of his major hits over the three-hour concert (which was streamed live on Disney+), John made sure that his farewell show had all of the fanfare and bombast that a legend of his caliber deserved.