Scottish singer-songwriter and activist Jimmy Somerville was BOTD in 1961. Born and raised in Glasgow, where homosexuality still was a criminal offence, he moved to London in 1980. He immersed himself in London’s gay culture and political causes, co-founding the synth-pop group Bronski Beat in 1983. Their debut single Smalltown Boy, a ballad about a gay teenager fleeing his homophobic family, became an international hit, notable for Somerville’s piercing falsetto and unapologetically gay identity. Accompanied by an eyebrow-raising music video featuring cruising at a swimming pool and a violent gay-bashing, it was a Top Ten hit in the United Kingdom and Europe. The band’s next single Why?, a polemic about anti-gay prejudice, was also a top 10 hit. Their 1984 album Age of Consent also featured featured a queer-inflected cover of Ira & George Gershwin‘s It Ain’t Necessarily So and a remix of Donna Summer songs I Feel Love and Love to Love You Baby, performed by Somerville with Marc Almond. Proudly wearing their gay politics on their (album) sleeves, the album was illustrated with a pink triangle and listed the ages of consent for gay sex in countries around the world. Somerville left the band in 1985, forming The Communards with classically-trained pianist Richard Coles. Their ebullient synth-pop cover of The Jackson 5’s Don’t Leave Me This Way, featuring Somerville duetting with husky-voiced contralto Sarah Jane Morris, spent four weeks at No 1 in the UK and was the year’s biggest-selling single. Their self-titled debut album also featured the singles You Are My World and So Cold the Night. They repeated their success with the 1987 album Red, featuring a high-energy cover of Gloria Gaynor’s disco hit Never Can Say Goodbye, and the ballad For a Friend, dedicated to gay activist Mark Ashton and other victims of HIV/AIDS. Again citing dissatisfaction, Somerville disbanded the group in 1988 to pursue a solo career, while Coles later became a vicar of the Church of England. He had moderate successes with covers of Françoise Hardy’s Franco-pop hit Comment te dire adieu, the Sylvester disco classic You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) and the Bee Gees’ To Love Somebody. His most recent album Homage was released in 2015. He appeared in Isaac Julien‘s 1989 film Looking for Langston, and Sally Potter’s 1992 adaptation of Virginia Woolf‘s novel Orlando, serenading Quentin Crisp’s Queen Elizabeth I aboard a barge. He has been prominently involved in a number of LGBTQ charities, especially to support homeless queer teens. He is in a long-term relationship with his partner Dave.