GOSSIP

Gossip are straight-talking, rebel-rousing indie icons hailing from Searcy, Arkansas.

Comprising band members Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Blilie, the band broke through with their 2006 anthem Standing In The Way Of Control, which featured as the unofficial theme tune to hit millennial teen TV series Skins. The song, a queer anthem written in response to US government’s proposition to define marriage and exclude homosexuals, was the title track to Gossip's album of the same name, it peaked at Number 7 on the UK Official Singles Chart in March 2007.

Always ahead of their time, the trio's blistering brand of soulful swagger brought queer politics to the mainstream, confronted body politics head on, and refused to be pigeonholed or ignored - landing magazine covers around the world and sound-tracking primetime TV. 
 
Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto remains a global icon of music and fashion, and a feminist and LGBTQ+ trailblazer. From performances and walking the runway for the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier, Fendi, Cartier, Gucci, Stella McCartney, Marc Jacobs, Versace & Alexander Wang, Ditto has also collaborated with Calvin Klein on a global underwear campaign, Jean Paul Gaultier for her own collection, and launched her own MAC make-up range. Image: Cody Critcheloe