13 Queer Artists Who Wrote Songs About Other Famous People
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1.Clairo wrote "Sofia" about Sofia Coppola and Sofia Vergara, two of her first female crushes.
Claire Cottrill took to Twitter to explain the song's meaning, saying it was about her first crushes on women in media, both of which were named Sofia. She went on to explain that the song celebrates that discovery while still maintaining the classic cheesy and corny lyrics she associates with love songs.
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
2.Vanessa Carlton wrote her hit song "A Thousand Miles" about a Juilliard student she had a crush on who is now a celebrity.
Vanessa, who is bisexual, told Entertainment Tonight that she purposefully wasn't attaching a gender to the song, stating that it was better off remaining a mystery. What we do know, however, is that the reason this person is a celebrity is because they are a famous actor.
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
3.Fletcher wrote "Becky's So Hot" about her ex-girlfriend, YouTuber Shannon Beveridge, and Shannon's new girlfriend, Becky Missal.
In an interview with Zane Lowe, she explained that she was stalking Shannon's new girlfriend on Instagram and saw her wearing an old vintage T-shirt Fletcher herself had worn before when they were still together. She accidentally liked the picture and decided to own up to it and not unlike it. Also, duh, she thought Becky was hot.
Shannon eventually released a limited edition vintage car-inspired T-shirt with Becky's name on it, inspired by the one she'd been wearing in the photo. They donated part of the proceeds to the Trevor Project.
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
4.Furthermore, Fletcher's "Sex (with My Ex)" — and also basically the entire S(ex) Tapes EP — is also about Shannon, who even shot and appeared in some of the music videos for it.
The EP, which came out in 2020, was the product of the two of them breaking up but still being quarantined together during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
Fletcher told Nylon, "I think we had just been having a conversation of us just being like, 'Well, what are we doing?' We're broken up, but we're in quarantine together, and there's so much love here, and we've been through so much. She's an incredible director and photographer and makes incredible art. I love making stuff with her."
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
5.Demi Lovato wrote "29" about her ex-boyfriend Wilmer Valderrama. She was 17 years old when they started dating, and he was 29.
In an interview with Zane Lowe, they explained that, while on vacation, they realized they're now the same age as their ex was when they started dating, and it put everything into perspective. Demi hasn't publicly confirmed the song is about him, saying she feels as though the song says it all, and she's working on having boundaries with media.
The song certainly does seem to speak for itself, though, from specifying both their ages to referencing Wilmer's age gap with his wife ("I see you’re quite the collector, yeah, you’re 12 years her elder").
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
6.Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" was originally about Marilyn Monroe, but was later reworked to be about Princess Diana.
Elton John and Bernie Taupin originally used Marilyn as the song's muse, making reference to her fame and early death. The opening line, "Goodbye, Norma Jeane" uses Marilyn's real name, Norma Jeane Mortenson. However when Princess Diana — who Elton was very close with — died in 1997, the two altered the song to honor her.
Elton was asked to sing at her funeral, and so they reworked the song to be "Goodbye, England's Rose." Taupin explained that, in changing the song, they wanted to make it "sound like a country singing it."
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
7.Phoebe Bridgers wrote "ICU" about — and with — her ex-boyfriend and current bandmate, Marshall Vore.
Phoebe told Stereogum, "It’s one of the older ones. It’s been [five] years since writing that, and it was definitely kind of raw when we started it, but now, it’s funny in retrospect. So, then we put it out, and everyone was like, 'Holy shit, it’s about Marshall, what the fuck.' And it’s old news to us."
Happily, the two remain very close friends. Marshall is still Phoebe's drummer, and they continue to write music together.
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
8.Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" was written about Scarlett Johansson after seeing a photo of her in a magazine she was flipping through.
Katy told Steppin' Out magazine that after seeing the picture, she told her then-boyfriend Travis McCoy, "I’m not going to lie: If Scarlett Johansson walked into the room and wanted to make out with me, I would make out with her. I hope you’re okay with that?"
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
9.King Princess's album, Cheap Queen, was written largely about Amandla Stenberg.
The pair publicly dated from 2018 to 2019. In October of 2019, King Princess shared a tweet promoting her merch for Cheap Queen, calling it "an iconic lesbian breakup album." When asked by the Times about if Amandla had inspired the album, they replied, “I’d rather not say...but yeah.”
You can listen to one of the songs from the album, "Ain't Together," here:
10.Halsey's song "Colors" and her EP Room 93 are ~rumored~ to be about The 1975's Matty Healy, who she dated in 2015.
Halsey has never confirmed the theory, but fans have speculated that, between the timing of the Badlands album's release and the opening lines of the song, "Colors" is about Matty. It references his brother, his mother — Denise Welch and the talk show she was on, Loose Women — his struggle with drugs, and that he was not yet 28 years old at the time.
The title of her EP — Room 93 — is also theorized to be the number of a hotel room they spent a night in together. Halsey has also never confirmed or denied this, but when asked about Matty, they told Billboard, "We’re both attracted to characters, and we saw that in each other. ... I spent a lot of time watching him, and he spent a lot of time loving being watched. But if you think he’s the first red-wine-drinking, pretty-boy rocker in skinny jeans I’ve...been associated with, you’re out of your f—ing mind.”
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
11.Pink and Indigo Girls wrote the song "Dear Mr. President" as an open letter to George W. Bush.
The song was written by Pink and her co-writer, Billy Mann, and criticizes the then-president with lyrics in the song like, “How can you say no child is left behind,” and “What kind of father would hate his own daughter if she was gay?” Having been a longtime fan of Indigo Girls, Pink asked them to join the track as well.
The song was banned from being talked about on many radio stations. Jimmy Kimmel Live!, however, did let them perform and discuss it. On the show, Pink went on to say, “These are my questions, they’re not theoretical. I think they’re questions that a lot of people have, and we could probably use some answers.”
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
12.Similarly, Green Day's "Holiday" is also about George W. Bush.
While introducing the anti-war anthem about the Iraq War at a show in Hamburg, Germany, Billie Joe Armstrong yelled, "This song is a big f*ck you to George W. Bush!"
You can listen to the song for yourself here:
13.Finally, WILLOW wrote "Marceline" about Marceline the Vampire Queen.
In case you're not familiar, Marceline is a bisexual, 1,000-year-old vampire queen from the show Adventure Time. Aside from being named after the character, WILLOW's song confirms it's about the character by making references to the show, like mentioning "The Nightosphere" — an alternate dimension ruled by Marceline's dad.
