Pride Month: Top 9 Rising Star Queer Artists You Need to Know

We’re only three days into Pride Month, and we already couldn’t wait to share the artists we’ve had on repeat in 2025.

From underground icons to genre-bending innovators, these queer talents are carving out their own lanes—and they’re primed to take over the biggest stages this year.

Check out our selection of top queer artists you need on your radar (and in your playlists) right now.

Once known for viral infamy, Rebecca Black has fully stepped into her own space as a queer pop provocateur. Her debut album Let Her Burn leaned into glitchy hyperpop and club energy, not as a gimmick, but as a manifesto. She’s been using her platform to highlight queer visibility in mainstream spaces, especially through visually bold, independently-driven music videos that feel custom-built for late-night freedom.

Rico Nasty isn’t interested in fitting into anyone’s mold—least of all the music industry’s expectations for queer identity. While not labeling herself, her boundary-pushing aesthetics, collaborations with queer creatives, and openness about gender expression have made her a cult icon in queer circles. Her recent mixtapes and live shows continue to be chaotic safe spaces where punk energy and gender fluidity crash into each other with pride.

Tash Sultana’s journey as a gender-fluid artist has always been interwoven with their music. Their latest live sessions and collaborative work reflect a commitment to authenticity—looping, layering, and refusing to simplify their sound or self for wider palatability. They’ve become a quiet but solid presence in queer culture, celebrated not for loud declarations, but for living the freedom that others still fight for.

Gigi Perez is still early in their rise, but their raw, diaristic songs about queer heartbreak and intimacy are already resonating deeply. Formerly known as VERA, Gigi has found a new clarity in their sound—one that’s been informed by coming out publicly and creating more vulnerably. They’re carving out space for queer melancholy that doesn’t sanitize itself for a wider audience.

Shygirl has become a key figure in the queer nightlife renaissance, blending fashion, performance art, and music into something that feels like the future of club culture. Her recent EPs and collaborations with artists like Arca and Sega Bodega exist in a space where queerness is both aesthetic and political—sexy, dark, and always a bit confrontational. She’s not just in the club; she is the club.

Julien Baker and Torres—both queer, both defiant in their vulnerability—continue to create music that confronts inner turmoil with a poetic edge. Whether it’s Baker’s recent work with boygenius or Torres’ new explorations of sensuality and confidence, both artists prove that queer expression doesn’t need to shout to be powerful. Together or apart, their music is a form of survival—and resistance.

Omar Apollo doesn’t dance around his queerness; he lets it soak into the lyrics, the visuals, and even the tension of his sound. His latest releases have leaned further into vulnerability, putting queer desire front and center without apology. Whether he’s crooning over reggaetón rhythms or moody R&B, Omar is shifting the way male intimacy is portrayed in Latin music.

Lucy Dacus doesn’t make queerness her whole story—but she also doesn’t hide it. Her writing remains razor-sharp, especially in recent tracks where she revisits religious upbringing, young love, and complicated friendship through a queer lens. As part of boygenius and in her solo work, Dacus continues to build a literary space for queer people who are still making sense of where they came from.