“I’m a lucky man”, James Blunt said at the annual event, An Evening With Women in Los Angeles, as he revealed that hit song writer Linda Perry was the driving force behind his success when she signed him to her brand new label Custard Records in 2003.
“She was the person who plucked me out of the UK and has given me a career. For me to come play here is an absolute pleasure and a huge honor.”
Speaking about early conversations regarding his accent, Blunt revealed that before he teamed up with Perry, he was asked to change the way he spoke – and that he struggled to get signed because of his voice.
“I was asked if i could change my speaking voice and my accent and I struggled to get signed in the UK because of that accent. I moved to America and a woman who is gay herself and had seen much harder prejudice didn’t give stuff about a speaking voice. She heard music instead and said, ‘Come on.’ She put her arms around me, signed me and has given me a chance.”
After he signed to Perry’s label, Sir Elton John stepped in and signed the former Army Captain to his management company. Blunt has since gone on to sell over 20 million albums and 20 million singles – thanks to the faith that Perry and John placed in him.
The 42-year-old singer continued,
“The people who picked me up and looked after me have been from the LGBT community,
“Really without them I wouldn’t be in the music business. If it’s a strange coincidence then it’s a coincidence I’ll take but I don’t think it is.”
Revealing his admiration for the LGBT+ community Blunt said,
“It’s a group of people who have to overcome a lot of prejudice, great adversity in different ways and they need support and need to support each other.”
Sam Smith has managed to earn enough from album royalties and performance fees to find himself on the Sunday Times’ Rich List.
CREDIT: kathclick / bigstock
The openly gay singer Sam Smith has managed to reach the top 10 in this the Sunday Times’ Rich List for the 10 richest musicians under 30. He joins Harry Styles who is at number 3 under Adele and Ed Sheeran.
According to the experts, Sam Smith’s personal wealth grew by £8million thanks to his songwriting royalties and album sales. The increase takes his net worth to £20 million. Harry Styles’ personal wealth also grew by £8 million, which takes his net worth to £33 million.
Meanwhile in the Sunday Times Rich ListSir Elton John is the only openly gay listee to make it into the top 10. He remains at number 4 on the list with a net worth of £280 million. George Michael drops one place from 21 to 22.
The 2016 Sunday Times Rich List – the definitive guide to wealth in Britain and Ireland – is published on Sunday, April 24. The 148-page special edition of The Sunday Times Magazine is the biggest issue of the Rich List ever published since it first appeared in 1989. It charts the wealth of the 1,000 richest people in the UK and the 250 richest in Ireland. The list is based on identifiable wealth, including land, property, other assets such as art and racehorses, or significant shares in publicly quoted companies. It excludes bank accounts, to which the paper has no access.
The Sunday Times Rich List is compiled by Philip Beresford and Robert Watts, and edited by Ian Coxon. The complete list will be available to all the paper’s digital members and will be fully-searchable online at thesundaytimes.co.uk/richlist
Sir Elton John told Northern Ireland politicians to “enter the 21st Century” on Radio 4’s Today programme.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the legendary singer said that politicians in Northern Ireland should “enter the 21st Century” saying that if it was left to public decision same-sex marriage would “sail in”.
MPs voted recently on whether same-sex marriage should become law in Northern Ireland. As it stands Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where marriage between gay couples is not legal.
Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland Programme Director of Amnesty International, said:
“Sir Elton John’s support for marriage equality in Northern Ireland is very welcome.
“Sir Elton has a proud track record of standing up for gay rights around the world. It’s great that he’s speaking out for the rights of LGBTI people in Northern Ireland, which is now the only part of the UK or Ireland that ban same-sex marriage.
“He’s 100% correct when he says that most people in Northern Ireland back same-sex marriage and that if there was a public vote it would ‘sail in’. Local politicians who continue to block equality must wake up and realise the damage they’re causing to gay people in Northern Ireland, as well as to our international reputation.”
It had looked as though life for the LGBT community was about to be acknowledged in a meaningful way when Sir Elton John announced that President Putin was ready to talk about gay rights in Russia, however it turned out to be a hoax.
It had seemed that the Rocket Man singer had managed the impossible when he told the media that he had in fact spoken to Putin and been invited to Moscow to talk about gay rights in Russia. It soon emerged that Sir Elton had been talking with a prankster.
Here we have the audio of the English part of a prank phone call between Elton John and Vovan and Lexus the Russian comedians who pretended to be President Putin.
Prank Putin – Elton John Phone Call (English Only)
Last night in an interview on Russia Today Vovan and Lexus revealed it was actually them saying,
“We gave Elton what he wanted”.
The phone call itself did not outwardly mock Sir Elton, though towards the end did invite the popstar to Gay Pride in Moscow which has been banned in the country for years.
The Russian President was responsible for signing in an anti-gay law that forbids the “propaganda” of non-traditional relationships to anyone under the age of 18. Same-sex relationships are considered non-traditional in Russia.
In a curious twist, President Putin’s press secretary has denied Elton John’s revelation that the pair are to meet to discuss LGBT rights in Russia.
Legendary rock veteran Sir Elton had announced thatPresident Putin had agreed to meet to discuss the state of LGBT rights in Russia. However, the president’s press secretary has denied that Russia’s number one is to meet with the Rocket Man singer.
The Russian President was responsible for signing in an anti-gay law that forbids the “propaganda” of non-traditional relationships to anyone under the age of 18. Same-sex relationships are considered non-traditional in Russia.
President Putin has agreed to meet with rock legend Sir Elton John to discuss his nation’s legacy on gay rights.
Legendary rock veteran Sir Elton has asked President Putin for a debate on gay rights. The Russian President was responsible for signing in an anti-gay law that forbids the “propaganda” of non-traditional relationships to anyone under the age of 18. Same-sex relationships are considered non-traditional in Russia.
According to Elton, the president reached out to him after he branded his attitude to gay rights as “ridiculous.”
Putin apparently rang Elton yesterday to accept his invitation to discuss the deplorable conditions that gay people across Russia are finding themselves.
Since the introduction of the anti-gay law, attacks on the LGBT community have been numerous and there has been more than one alleged murder that has rocked the community in Russia.
The news of the meeting come as Putin gives a Russian State Honour to the vehemently anti-gay politician Vitaly Milonov, who was instrumental in bringing about the “gay propaganda” law. The Russian State Honour is the highest award that can be given to a civilian.
Vitaly Milonov has gone on record to call the Eurovision song content a “sodom show” and he branded Stephen Fry as sick over his suicide attempts in 2012.
This week has been a week of wonder… One that could either lead to greatness or mayhem. From Janice Dickinson promising to be a surrogate mother, to Jeremy Corbyn’s election as the new Labour leader.
1) Janice promises to be Austin Armacost and Jake Lee’s surrogate for any child they may have in the future… This is an interesting concept and won that we think would make an excellent reality TV show.
2) The first ever “test-tube baby” Louise Brown is delighted that gay couples can use IVF to start familes.
3) Elton John reaches out to President Putin to discuss ‘ridiculous’ anti-gay prejudice. According to The Guardian the Rocket Man has asked for 5 with the Russian Prez. We await the outcome. If Elton can achieve the melt down he did for Dolce And Gabbana, maybe there could be so movement, then against probs not.
4) This news site based in the deeply homophobic country of Nigeria suggests women could and should strap on a dildo and screw their men. Unsurprisingly the men in the poll aren’t so sure.
5) Jeremy Corbyn, who has voted pro gay issues since his induction as an MP, has been voted in as the new Labour leader.
6) The Daily Mail, thinks that Brits have won a “war” because famous women over the age of 70 haven’t had plastic surgery,
In 2013 we announced our first LGBT Rich list, the top 10 of the world’s richest gay men. This year for the first time we’ve included trans, bisexual and lesbians in the list.
THEGAYUK UK Rich List
Welcome to THEGAYUK LGBT Rich List 2015. For 2015 we’ve included people from the entire LGBT spectrum. People who made the list are from the fashion, entertainment and technology industries.
The fashion industry holds 5 of the highest paid gay or bisexual men in the world, with one topping the list as the richest in the world.
The entertainments also home to a number of people, and includes one billionaire.
The average age of our rich list is 57.7 years old and most likely to be male with 15 of the 20 male.
It is worth noting that someone’s placement on the list doesn’t mean that they have liquid assets amounting to their reported worth. It may include the reported worth of royalities, stocks or other investments.
#20 (joint) Rosie O’Donnell
Industry: Entertainment
Made her money in: Entertainment
Relationship: Single
Age: 53
Nationality: US
Reported worth: $100,000,000
According to Celebrity Net Worth Rosie enjoys a $5 million annual salary, which she earns because of her TV appearances and co-hosting The View.
#20 Megan Ellison
Industry: Entertainment
Made her money from:Film producing
Relationship:Co Habiting with partner
Age: 29
Reportedly worth: $100,000,000
Film producer Megan is the daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison and youngest millionaire on our list. She has gone on to produce critically acclaimed films such as American Hustle, and Zero Dark Thirty
#20 Anderson Cooper
Industry: Entertainment/News
Made his money: Entertainment, inheritance
Relationship:Co-habiting
Age: 48
Nationality: US
Reported Worth: $100,000,000
With an estimated yearly salary of $11m the newly self-outed Cooper is also the son heiress of Gloria Vanderbilt. He has been dating his partner since 2009. He currently hosts Anderson Live. He is joint 18-20th with Rosie O’Donell and Megan Ellison.
#17 George Michael
Industry:Entertainment
Made his music from:Songwriter, singer
Relationship status: Single
Age: 52
Nationality: UK
Reported worth:$175,000,000
According to celebritynetworth.com Mr Michaels, former Wham Man turned super solo star of the 80s and 90s is reportedly worth $175m. He’s sold 100 million records since Wham’s debut single Young Guns (Go For It!)which went to number 3.
George had been in a long term relationship with Kenny Goss, but the couple announced their split in 2011.
The singer and songwriter is reportedly worth $230 from her music royalties and touring. She claimed to be bisexual in an interview with Barbara Walters in 2009. She is in a relationship with Taylor Kinney.
#15 Ellen DeGeneres
Industry: Entertainment
Made her money through: Rights ownership, Television,
Relationship status: Married
Age: 57
Nationality: US
Reported wealth: $330,000,000
The comedian stars in her very own popular chat show and owns her very own version of YouTube, called Ellen Tube. She married Arrested Development‘s Portia De Rossi in 2008.
#14 Elton John
Industry: Entertainment
Made his money from: Songwriter, singer
Relationship status: Married
Age: 68
Nationality: UK
Reported wealth: $370,000,000
The Tiara and Tantrums legendary Rock Star Sir Elton John is pretty much the godfather of the gay world. Is well known for his charity work and for his Elton John Aids Foundation.
#13 Tim Gill
Industry: Technology
Made his money through: Quark
Relationship status: Married
Age: 61
Nationality: US
Reported wealth: $400,000,000
Tim was the founder of Quark, which he started with a $2000 loan from his parents. In 2009 He married his banker partner Scott Miller in Massachusetts. They now live in Denver.
#12 Jann Wenner
Industry: Publishing
Made his money from:Magazine Publisher
Relationship status:Co Habiting with partner
Age: 69
Nationality:US
Reported worth: $700,000,000
In 1967 Wenner started Rolling Stone magazine, today Wenner Media titles include Men’s Journal and US Weekly. He now lives with his model / designer partner Matt Nye raising son Noah and twins Jude and India Rose.
#11 Calvin Klein
CREDIT: bigstock-miromiro
Industry:Fashion
Made is money from:Designer
Relationship status:Single
Age:72
Nationality: US
Reported wealth:$700,000,000
The New York native is famous for his underwear and jeans.
#10 Tim Cook
Industry:Technology
Made his money from:Apple
Relationship status:Single
Age: 54
Nationality:US
Reported wealth:$785,000,000
After becoming the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook’s personal wealth skyrocketed. He came out officially in 2014.
#9 Chris Hughes
Industry:Technology
How he made his money: Facebook
Relationship status:Married
Age:31
Reported wealth: $850,000,000 (2013)
Nationality:US
All the way back in 2003 Chris teamed up with fellow Harvard undergraduate Mark Zuckerberg and the rest as they say is history. He lives with his husband Sean Eldridge. TheRichList.org reports that Chris is worth $850m. However he is reported to have 22 million shares in Facebook, which today are worth $87.95 per share putting his worth at: $1.9 billion
#8 Michael Kors
Industry:Fashion
What made him is money: Designer, Retail
Relationship Status:Married
Age:55
Nationality: US
Reported worth:$1 billion
The fashion king started his career when he was just 19, three years later he launched a womenswear line at Bloomingdales, Saks and Neiman Collins just to name a few.
#7 Domenico Dolce
CREDIT: maxoidos/Bigstock
Industry: Fashion
How he made his money:Designer
Relationship Status:Single
Age: 56
Nationality: Italian
Reported wealth: $1,550,000,000
Forbes puts Domenico Dolce’s worth at $1.55 billion along with his business partner Stefano Gabanna. The pair come joint fifth on THEGAYUK Rich List 2015. The pair have caused some controversy over the years with their out spoken comments on gay parenting.
# 7 Stefano Gabbana
CREDIT: maxoidos / BigStock
Industry:Fashion
How he made his money:Designer
Relationship status:Single
Age:52
Nationality:Italian
Reported worth:$1.55 Billion
Forbes puts Stefano Gabbana’s worth at $1.5 billion along with his business partner Domenico Dolce. The self made billionaire made headlines earlier this year when they upset Elton John (also on this list) and thousands of same-sex couples and couples who have children through IVF when he said, “the only family is the traditional one” and that children born through in vitro fertilization were “synthetic”. “The family is not a fad,” Gabbana explained ,”No chemical off springs and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.
#5 Jennifer Pritzker
Industry:Hospitality
How she made her money:Investments
Relationship Status:Single
Age:63
Nationality:US
Reported worth: $1,78 Billion
The world’s only transgender billionaire. In August2013 she announced to the world that she was a woman. She is one of 11 billionaires in the Pritzker Family.
#4 Jon Stryker
Industry: Medicak
What made him his money:Family business
Relationship Status:unknown
Age:
Nationality:US
Reported worth: $1.8
#3 Peter Thiel
Industry: Technology
What made him his money:Paypal, Facebook, Investing
German born Peter Thiel made the bulk of his huge wealth through two well-chosen angel investments namely PayPal of which he was a co-founder and Facebook. He is also a key investor in AIRBNB and online payment company Stripe.
#2 Peter Geffen
Industry:Entertainment
Made his money from:Music and Film producttion
Relationship Status: Single
Age:72
Nationality:US
Reported worth: $6.9Bn
David created Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980 and DGC Records in 1990. He is also one of the three founders of DreamWorks SKG. Out Magazine ranked Geffen in its list of “Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America.” Forbes puts Geffen’s worth at $6.9 Billion, putting him in second place on TheGayUK’s Rich List 2015.
#1 Giorgio Arman
Industry:Fashion
How He Made His Money:Designer / Armani Brand
Relationship Status:Single
Age:80
Nationality: Italian
Reported worth:$780,000,000,000 ($7.8bn)
At a reported worth of $7.8 billion, Mr Armani is one of the richest men in the world. His wealth has come from building his Armani brand, one of the world’s most recognisable luxury fashion brands. He is one of three Italian nationals on this year’s GAYUK Rich List.
In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2004, Giorgio Armani talked about his love for men and women. Forbes puts his worth at $7.8billion
Sir Elton Pleads With US Congress To Bring An End To AIDS
In an impassioned plea to the US Congress when he was recently giving testimony to a Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee on global health, Sir Elton John said, “This is the most powerful legislative body in the world. This Congress indeed has the power to end AIDS. I am asking you to use that power, to seize this window of opportunity, to change the course of history,” He added “There is a window of opportunity before us — a window through which we can very clearly see the end of AIDS — within my lifetime. We cannot afford to let that window close”.
Accompanied by his husband David Furnish, Sir Elton explained that his own Foundation that has to date raised over £231 million to help both people inflicted with the disease and research organisations committed to finding a cure. He gave credit to the Senate for their work to date. “Because the American people have the optimism, the ingenuity and the will to make a difference, the lives of millions of people halfway around the world have been saved,” he told the subcommittee: “But I’m here with a simple message: the AIDS epidemic is not over, and America’s continued leadership is critical.”
They say that fashion has a tendency to cycle and repeat itself. Fashion virtuosos Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana seem to follow this fashion rule of thumb by trying to reintroduce the trend of heteronormativity back in vogue.
Famous for their bold fashion vision, this season Dolce and Gabbana take an even bolder approach: influenced by traditional family values the Italian duo now appear to assume the roles of conservative moralists, while seemingly drawing their inspiration from ‘before the Stonewall’ and other pre-sexual revolution eras, the duo fiercely presented their slightly tailored, but certainly more edgy, new collection of anti-gay attitudes (negative remarks towards gay marriage and adoption were made by D&G in 2006 and 2013) for Italian news magazine Panorama. Here are some highlights:
“The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.”
“synthetic children [children conceived via egg donors or artificial insemination]”
“The family is not a fad. In it there is a supernatural sense of belonging.”
Even though Dolce and Gabbana later pleaded that anti-gay parenting comments made were just an opinion, this way trying to clarify IVF remarks that had incited a global outrage, the remarks, nevertheless, made by such well-known public figures inevitably pose a threat to LGBT community and their rights.
First and foremost, Dolce’s and Gabbana’s anti-same sex parenting comments increase social stigma against LGBT families and parenting. It does so by propagating an idea that “the only family is the traditional one”, which in turn helps to reinforce conservative and old Christian beliefs that marital relations are only fitting between the people of opposite sexes and any other families that do not fit this model are incomplete, unnatural or not ‘real’ families. Needless to say, such view is very much in accord with those views of opponents of the same-sex families and, hence, is based on a widespread heterosexist assumption that a child needs both a mother and a father in order to form a ‘healthy’ identity. Although various studies conducted on child development suggest otherwise (APA; Pediatrics; CPA), it is not the goal of this piece to prove how wrong Dolce and Gabbana are, but rather to point out the potential damage their comments may cause for the LGBT community.
With this in mind, while anti-gay parenting statements made by Dolce and Gabbana compliment the prejudice against LGBT parenting, another destructive consequence of the designers’ negative statements is that it helps to supply anti-gay politicians and activists with the ‘new’ anti-gay opinions coming from the prominent LGBT figures. Such opinions coming from LGBT insiders, hence, strengthen anti-gay activists’ ammunition to attack LGBT citizens’ rights for parenthood. For instance, a remark that “the family is not a fad” implies that those homosexuals who want to form a family want to do so because it is fashionable and that such desire is not serious and, subsequently, must be short-lived. Such generalisation then indicates that according to Dolce and Gabbana’s view homosexual parents are lacking parental competence and therefore are inferior parents in comparison to heterosexual parents.
In addition, social media quarrel between Sir Elton John and Dolce and Gabbana points out a dichotomy between LGBT members regarding the issue of the same-sex parenting: more precisely, between those LGBT members who are in favour of the same-sex parenting and those who are not. In other words, remarks made by Dolce and Gabbana bring the disagreement existing within LGBT community regarding LGBT rights for parenthood to light. This disagreement, as a result, strengthens anti-gay politicians’ and activists’ argument that the same-sex couples are yet not fit to raise children, this way jeopardising parenting rights of those LGBT members who are capable and ready to raise children.
Last, but certainly not least, Dolce and Gabbana’s remarks are pure discrimination of LGBT community, their children and all children conceived by IVF in general. To begin with the discrimination of LGBT community, the statements, such as: “The only family is the traditional one”; “life has a natural flow” and that “there are things that should not be changed” suggest that a family is exclusively heterosexual privilege rather than a human right.
Therefore, by supporting traditional family values Dolce and Gabbana implicitly justify discrimination against homosexual peoples’ civil right to form a family. In turn, by justifying discrimination against LGBT people, the designers support the denial of humanity, the denial of equal dignity and worth, as well as the treatment of LGBT community as second class citizens.
Finally, calling children “synthetic” or “chemical” because they were conceived via egg donors or artificial insemination shows that Dolce and Gabbana differentiate children and, hence, do they consider children conceived biologically as much more superior then their artificially conceived counterparts? Ultimately, it goes without saying that calling children “synthetic” or “chemical” is dehumanisation of children conceived artificially, not to mention that such remarks are simply mean and degrading.
In the end, while responding to the uproar and trying to clarify their IVF remarks through the news and social media, Dolce and Gabbana explained that the comments made are just a personal opinion; for example, in an interview with CNN the duo said that they respect how people chose to live their lives, later adding that others should also respect differences in opinion.
Indeed, everyone has a right to express their views and opinions. Yet, when one’s opinion is so disrespectful, degrading and has a potential to harm the other’s civil rights, such opinion is certainly not worthy of respect. In fact, it is worth of strong counter-reaction and criticism. Perhaps even a boycott…
It is not a first time that Dolce and Gabbana make negative statements. For instance, in 2006, Gabbana told The Daily Mail that he is “opposed” to the idea of same-sex parents raising a child. Similarly, in 2013, when asked if they had ever intended to marry, Dolce told The Telegraph that he “doesn’t believe” in gay marriage.
Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
