By Lyndsey Parker, Yahoo Music | Jobriath, aka Bruce Wayne Campbell, was the first openly gay rock star and the self-declared “true fairy of rock ‘n’ roll.” He was also one of rock ’n’ roll’s greatest tragedies.
Initially touted as the “American David Bowie” via a massive marketing campaign spearheaded by Elektra Records and infamous impresario Jerry Brandt (who’d worked with Carly Simon, Chubby Checker, and the Rolling Stones), the former Hair actor-turned-glam rocker instead faced a swift and vicious backlash. The public reaction was no doubt at least partly because Jobriath was openly gay. (He made bold statements like “Asking me if I’m homosexual is like asking James Brown if he’s Black” in his sensationalistic interviews, and blasted other effeminate rockers as “pretenders.”) This was basically unheard-of in 1974. However, Brandt’s obnoxious next-big-thing promotional blitz (which included plastering the singer’s naked torso on hundreds of New York city buses and on a Times Square billboard) before Jobriath had even released as much as a single, and the hype over Jobriath’s reported $500,000 deal (the most lucrative recording contract ever, at that point), definitely contributed to the underrated artist’s downfall.
Less than a decade after the spectacular commercial failure of his self-titled debut album, Jobriath, who had reinvented himself as New York cabaret pianist Cole Berlin and had disavowed his Elektra catalog entirely, became one of music’s first AIDS casualties, dying alone and in obscurity at the notorious Chelsea Hotel 40 years ago on Aug. 3, 1983, one week after his original 10-year contract with Brandt expired. He was 36 years old.
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And for those who are still surprised by Elliott’s tireless Jobriath evangelizing, he sums up to Jobriath A.D. director Turner, “There’s been many a time people have said to me, ‘You’re a Jobriath fan? But you’re not gay!’ So? What, do I have to throw my Elton John records away? If I had to throw every gay artist out of my collection, I’d have no records left.”
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Complete with several videos! Read the full article here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/def-leppard-joe-elliott-remembers-tragic-gay-glam-rocker-jobriath-183638741.html
Photo: Jobriath album cover
Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott Remembers Tragic Gay Glam-rocker Jobriath: Like ‘Ziggy Stardust sung by Mick Jagger’
