46. Cazwell
Massachusetts-born Luke Caswell, aka Cazwell, has been praised at the gay man’s Eminem and is a personal favorite of Sir Elton John. Best known for his gay and bisexual-themed lyrics, as well as his sexual videos which often feature cameos by New York-based transsexual icon Amanda Lepore, Cazwell’s influences range from the Notorious B.I.G.to The Beastie Boys.
His debut album, Get Into It, was released in 2006 and the music video for the lead single“All Over Your Face” turned out to be too controversial to be aired on Logo due to the explicit lyrics and sexual themes. During 2007 Cazwell toured alongside Cyndi Lauper, Rufus Wainwright, the Indigo Girls and other special guests on the True Colors Tour.
The video for Cazwell’s comical single “I Seen Beyonce at Burger King” went viral in 2008 and in 2010 Cazwell released the video for “Ice Cream Truck”, which the Advocatecalled “the summer’s raunchiest music video.” Featuring a pack of half-naked chiseled go go boys, it’s no surprise the video gained over one million views in its first week. It seems Cazwell certainly knows what gay men like.
45. Owen Pallett
If you’re a fan of Andrew Bird, Beirut, or Arcade Fire, then you’re likely familiar with Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist and vocalist Owen Pallett. Pallett co-wrote the strings arrangements for Arcade Fire’s albums Funeral, Neon Bible and The Suburbs. He began his music career under the alias “Final Fantasy,” a name he created due to his affinity for the Japanese videogame series of the same title.
Pallet’s penchant for humorous album titles resulted in the unforgettable name of his second album, He Poos Clouds, which went on to win Canada’s Polaris Music Prize in 2006. It was at this time that Pallett’s career began to really take off, and he hired his boyfriendPatrick Borjal as his manager and they formed the aptly titled company Boyfriend Management. In 2009, Pallett retired the use of his band name Final Fantasy and released his critically acclaimed album Heartland.
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