English singer-songwriter Tom Robinson was BOTD in 1950. Born in Cambridge to a middle-class family, he attended a private boys’ school, falling in love with a fellow student when he was 13. Depressed about his sexuality, he had a nervous breakdown and attempted suicide at 16. After attending a therapeutic centre, he became interested in music. He moved to London in 1973, joining several bands and becoming involved in gay liberation movements. He founded the Tom Robinson Band in 1976, achieving a Top 10 hit with the single 2-4-6-8 Motorway, with lyrics referring obliquely to a closeted gay truck driver. He is best known for his single Glad to Be Gay, originally written for the 1976 London Gay Pride march. Banned by BBC radio, it received extensive coverage on London and community radio stations, becoming an unofficial anthem of the gay rights movement. The band’s debut album Power in the Darkness, released in 1978, reached No 4 in the UK Albums Chart. He co-wrote several songs with Elton John, scoring a minor hit with 1979’s Sartorial Eloquence (Don’t Ya Wanna Play This Game No More?), a song about a young boy who has a crush on an older student. After the commercial failure of his next band Sector 27, he moved to West Berlin, making a career comeback with the 1982 single War Baby. During the 1980s, he became a popular host on BBC Radio, making a number of programmes about sexuality, masculinity, suicide and the history of gay music. Robinson had relationships with men and women, identifying variously as gay, bisexual and queer. He formed a relationship with Sue Brearley in 1982, eventually marrying and having two children together, angering many gay activists who accused him of “going straight”. His 1996 album Having It Both Ways, was widely viewed as a response to his critics. His most recent album, Only the Now, featuring contributions from Billy Bragg and Ian McKellen, was released in 2015. Robinson continues to perform, tour and broadcast, and is actively involved in LGBT rights campaigns.