Muses may have started as a group of goddesses residing over various forms of the arts, but over time they have evolved.
Muse, now, is defined by Merriam-Webster as any source of inspiration. The largest source of inspiration today? The world of pop culture. The past several decades have given us a plethora of muses to inspire and inform our own creative endeavors. Between pop artists, cult classic films and larger-than-life musical performers, the well of inspiration is nearly endless. Most interesting, though, is when pop culture icons inform other pop culture icons.
One great example of a modern muse is the late, great David Bowie. Bowie has served as inspiration for many other musicians both musically and stylistically, thanks to his unique sound and androgynous fashion. Bowie was even a muse for another major pop culture icon that emerged in 1970: the band Queen.
Queen is one of the most well known bands of the last century, but their frontman, Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara, according to the Queen Official Site), is to thank for their visual style and strong stage presence.
Known for both theatrical sounds and style, Queen was influenced by the theater, opera, glam and drag, seen in the “I Want To Break Free” music video. Mercury was a queer man, and by including these types of styles in his work was able to better express his creativity, defying gender norms and styles of the time.
Mercury is famously quoted as saying that Queen shows were “not a concert you’re seeing, but a fashion show,” according to Dazed Magazine. Seeing the outfits and costumes worn in their shows and music videos, it’s no wonder that Queen has inspired other artists for decades.
One such artist is pop star Lady Gaga. Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Gaga cites some of her influences for both music and style as Bowie, Madonna and Queen. Business Insider reports that the Queen song, “Radio Ga Ga,” is even where she got the inspiration for her stage name.
Gaga debuted in 2008, and much like the flamboyant band, Gaga has also used glam rock, theatrical performances and fashion as a tool to build her stage persona. The artist has managed to transcend the music world, even serving as a muse for fashion designers, thanks to her unique aesthetic.
Designers like Marc Jacobs have featured her in their fashion shows and collaborated with her through various looks, including her 2016 Grammys Bowie tribute highlight. Even more iconic, though, was her creative relationship with Lee Alexander McQueen.
Alongside Daphne Guinness, Gaga is often cited as a McQueen muse, and when he was still alive frequently collaborated with the designer. While designer Helmut Lang is the first to show a collection on the internet, Alexander McQueen is widely credited as the first designer to livestream a fashion show. According to The Guardian, he did so in October 2009 with his S/S 2010 show, Plato’s Atlantis.
And how does this connect back to Gaga? Gaga actually caused the livestream to crash by sending her Little Monsters — the pet name of her devoted fans — to watch. After all, her song “Bad Romance” played when all the models walked out at the end of the show. A month later, the final look from the show was featured in the premiere of the “Bad Romance” music video.
Gaga cemented herself as a pop culture icon in both music and fashion, acting as a muse for designers and other artists.
This is seen clearly in pop’s most recent (midwest) princesses, Chappell Roan. Roan — born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz — has credited Gaga as an inspiration for her style and stage presence, as stated by Collider, citing Gaga’s confidence and connection with her audience as something to emulate.
Gaga has always been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Similarly, Roan, who is queer, herself, and a proud supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, stated in an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music that she wanted her upcoming music to be more experimental — like Gaga’s fifth album, “Joanne.”
“Joanne,” having received mixed reviews from the true Gaga heads, is simultaneously celebrated for its more stripped back sound and vulnerable lyricism.
Roan said she thinks one of the most admirable things an artist could do was to show they have other sides, and for her, stepping away briefly from her usual pop songs and releasing “The Giver,” was a way to do that. But before the shift from pop into country, People Magazine says that Roan credits watching the Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” starring Rami Malek, as something that made her really want to delve into pop music. Roan has also taken inspiration from Bowie — Chappell Roan is a stage persona the same way Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust was.
These 4 muses and pop culture icons have made a few things clear to their audiences: Everything is a bit more connected than you first think, individualism is key, reinvention — or never sticking to the same script — is highly encouraged and fashion and music are deeply intertwined. And of course, drag and queer culture are things we all can love, even if we didn’t explicitly know we loved it before. Who do you have to thank for these life lessons? The muses and icons that bring them from the LGBTQ+ community into the forefront of popular culture over the decades.
