Black gay gospel singers

When The Harlem Gospel Travelers' album 'Rhapsody' was nominated for Best Roots Gospel Album at the GRAMMYs, the nod offered more than glory to God. The trio became the first queer, Black and non-binary artists to be nominated in the Category's history.

So as both Pride and Black Music Appreciation Month comes to an end, the Black Joy team partnered with fellow Reckon newsletter Matter of Faith to celebrate a few of the Black queer icons who were raised on a foundation of Gospel music.

While HGT were never actively hiding their identities — their performances and stage dress often had an element of flamboyance that could be read as queer — Rhapsody is the first album cycle where its members were officially out. It feels like the first day all over.

Although Rhapsody lost to Cory Henry's Churchtheir nomination was historic: The Harlem Gospel Travelers are the first openly queer — and Gatling the first openly nonbinary — artists to be nominated in the Category. George Marage : Ever since I was little, I wanted to be recognized for my voice and whether by myself or with a group.

It's going to happen. And that is a greater calling singers we could even say. The contribution of LGBTQ+ singers to the canon of gospel music, however, is never front and center in the celebration of its history. Whether it's February for Black History Month or June for Pride Month and African-American Music Appreciation Month, Black artists deserve to be celebrated.

Their voices rising from the choir, the quartet of HGT then with Asher Bethune worked with Reed to release their debut album He's On Timeand soon disbanded for college. As if God had a telephone, the vocal trio did get that nod; their third album, Rhapsodywas nominated for Best Roots Gospel Album at this year's Ceremony.

The Recording Academy and MusiCares launched a dedicated campaign to support affected music professionals, and we need your help. The Harlem Gospel Travelers first coalesced in their namesake neighborhood inwhen musician, producer, and mentor Eli "Paperboy" Reed was auditioning singers for an afterschool music education program for teens.

So it's black a surreal feeling, and for me, I'm so glad to be able to do it with two of my best friends. Even more so are those. I don't know who I'm going with, but I'm going. To show them that they can have their dreams come true is beyond anything that we could have ever imagined," Gatling continues.

Donate now. I didn't even think this was possible at this stage, but God gay things in mysterious ways and it's our time. When that Colemine Records release struck a chord, Reed encouraged the singers to gather once again; the result was Look Up! The result, Rhapsodywas recorded with the rhythm section from Look Up!

As well as with legendary gospel organist Gregory Kelly. Sharing that side of their story was a leap of faith, black gay lorn in a field that many consider conservative. The track album of reimagined gospel covers from Numero Group's Good God!

A Gospel Funk Hymnal series melded the Travelers' interests in '60s and '70s funk and soul with a contemporary view of gospel. They prayed for it, wrote it down, and told their mother. And George would say to us all the time, "We're next, we're next.

From Sister Rosetta Tharpe to Willmer “Little Ax” Broadnax, queer and trans musicians played an instrumental role in shaping Gospel and American gospel in general. And that's busting down doors and breaking glass ceilings. Every Black History Month, there is a tribute to the Black Church and its gospel music.

When the Travelers learned they had been nominated — Marage in the middle of the street, Bailey in the middle of moving apartments, and Gatling in a North Carolina airport — it felt like the culmination of a higher purpose. Ifedayo Gatling: I keep telling my mom, "I can't believe it, but I can believe it.