No, this actually isn’t One Direction going through a re-branding phase. This is Union J, Simon Cowell’s newest project and the only other boy band to successfully come out of the UK’s X Factor.
It seems like boy bands are a dime-a-dozen these days, but Union J has something the rest do not: an openly gay bandmate. Jaymi Hensley (the hot one, second from right) came out in an interview with The Sun last November, asserting the fact that “every boy band has got to have a gay one!” and he’s “never been happier.”
Check out the band’s brand new track “Carry You”, and tell One Direction to watch their backs.
RandallSM
I am excited by how much I hate this!
MikeE
“the hot one, second from right”… I’m sorry, you can tell them apart?
Dr. Dick
@MikeE: LOL right? And honey chyle on the far right is just making that epic Gay Face in solidarity with her bandmate? 😛
Shanestud
“the hot one, second from the right”??? Could have fooled me. He’s the most butch, straightest looking dude in this carefully coiffured group. He’s the only one without highlights in his hair. Damn..another gay stereotype busted!!
Sohobod
Could a US boy band have an openly gay member?
Aaron in Honolulu
Most of us are grown ass men. Are good-looking prepubescent boys really a relevant topic for us? This article would be great for gay male teens.
Zodinsbrother
I wonder where this stereotype of bitter old queens comes from? Hmmmmm
**Looks at Queerty comments**
They a decent Pop act and most of them are older than One Direction with a few years behind them. Jaymi the “Gay One” is the 2nd oldest in his mid twenties and is engaged to be married to his boyfriend Ollie.
Best of luck to them. Though it is clear that some bitter old queens prefer their boybands closeted.
JDJase
@Zodinsbrother: My thoughts exactly
RandallSM
Zodinsbrother & JDJase, did you actually listen to this ridiculously bland and unimaginative song? I don’t give 5 fucks if any of the members of the tragically-titled Union J is gay, asexual or likes to fuck hamburger meat in their spare time. Learn how to write a song, and for fuck’s sake, Queerty, get some new music writers; preferably ones with broad and eclectic tastes.
RainyDayz
Jaymi is actually the second from the left in that picture. Just thought I’d point that out.
But I’m happy that you have an article on them on the site anyway, I’ve watched them on the X-Factor and I think they’re very talented.
Charlie in Charge
So many comments in Queerty articles read something like “I do not personally find the people in this article attractive and therefore it is a waste of time to have it on this site. In the future please only include stories about people I find attractive.”
mlbumiller
@RainyDayz: I understood who they ment… they are really refering 2nd from stage right
balehead
They are talented…leave it at that….
Zodinsbrother
@RandallSM:
Apparently only singers who writer their own songs are allowed a career now. So by Sinatra and co.
Should we apply the same rule to actors to?
I think people who think any music released by a commercial record label is any different from any other is just the kind of person they love to lure in to buying their manufactured “credible” music.
MikeE
@Zodinsbrother: while we’re at it, why not limit it to people who know something about music commenting about music? OOH!
“boy band” =/= “talent”
the two are mutually exclusive.
Fidelio
It’s a cute song for the genre, I guess. I’d dance to it. They’re not as dreamy as One Direction, so I’m torn. UGH!
Mofdgheb
Comparing the quality of boy bands is like comparing which type of anal warts is better.
Zodinsbrother
God this place is sometimes so sad and tragic. Can there be anything more pathetic than a bunch of boring old queens in their 30s and 40s sitting around and complaining about a band aimed at tweens and teenagers.
It’s an exact equivalent of a bunch of beer bellied straight guys complaining about the “fags” liking The Golden Girls.
Billysees
@Zodinsbrother: 18
Wow…..you said it…….lol……..
dsp
I kind of enjoy the song. Cute bunch of young men and good luck to them. It is good to have an out young man in a group where the others are straight. It gives a positive message. as to # 18 commant…..30’s and 40’s OLD??? wow!
RandallSM
God, this community is sometimes so sad, tragic and ageist. “Boring old queens in their 30’s and 40’s” is wholly laughable, wrong and short-sighted.
As to the point about complaining about bands aimed at kids, I would agree with it if QUEERTY was a site aimed at kids, but to my knowledge it isn’t. For the most part, most of the news here is geared to adults, which as a super-rad, exciting forty-two-year old guy I am proud to call myself.
Also, if I were a kid I would be highly insulted at this over-produced, derivative, glossy, auto-tuned bullshit made by businessmen in order to do nothing but take away my money. Art geared towards children does not need to be dumbed-down in order for consumption.
So, yeah, this song pretty much blows.
Charlie in Charge
@RandallSM: “As to the point about complaining about bands aimed at kids, I would agree with it if QUEERTY was a site aimed at kids, but to my knowledge it isn’t. For the most part, most of the news here is geared to adults, which as a super-rad, exciting forty-two-year old guy I am proud to call myself.”
The site is geared for the GLBT community – which Jaymi is apparently a member of. Big picture.
RandallSM
@Charlie in Charge: I never once mentioned that Jaymi wasn’t part of the community. Not sure where you gleaned that from my post, but to clarify I was responding to the point about people not being able to express a negative viewpoint about a band marketed to teenagers but being highlighted on a forum where I am assuming is populated by people of all ages. If QUEERTY was Nickelodeon I would agree with that facet of Zodinbrother’s argument.
RandallSM
Let me also add that as a music enthusiast I am often disheartened at the narrow reporting often employed when it comes to LGBT sites and their music/entertainment choices. Like you mentioned above, Charlie in Charge, “Big Picture.” We are not all mainstream, fabricated-pop-loving, casual-music-listening young adults. Many of us appreciate creativity, originality, and diversity in our bands.
Zodinsbrother
As a 40 something old queen myself, I feel perfectly entitled to moan about my contemporaries when they are behaving in an ageist “we know better” way towards their youngers. They sound like a load of old boars complaining about the kids enjoying Harry Potter rather than Breaking Bad! Namely dull, self righteous and way out of touch.
As for why is it on this forum?
Well excuse me but in the aim of social progress I think a teen band with an openly gay member is a sign of progress to be celebrated.
RandallSM
Zodin, your thoughts about me (and probably others) are completely wrong. However, I will be the first to admit that I am more than a bit prickly when it comes to music. I don’t think age should play a factor in this discussion. Young adults are more than capable of creating quality work, especially if they are putting it out there for consumption. And having a gay member of a boy band surely should not be thought of as a sign of progress. Having an openly gay member of a black metal or C&W band? Sure! Boy Band? Nah.
Zodinsbrother
I think you have far too prescribed a view of “quality”
We could live in a world where only Michelin star quality food was available but that would leave most people starving. You need you basic food too for a healthy diet. Entertainment is the same. You need a full and rich tapestry of music from Handel to Kajagoogoo.
What I find insufferable are comments that all Boybands have no talent, that people should have better taste. This is snobbery of the most basic and barren sort. And at a fundamental level, what else are people supposed to be listening to but other acts just as manufactured and commercial and run by exactly the same music executives.
Every form of commercial music is as calculated as a boyband and the credible and quality veneer is as much part of the marketing as a boybander’s sixpack. Basically, if you are paying any commercial record label for your music then you are part of the commercial meat market and no better or worse than anyone else.
As for whether being out and gay matters, I think it does. To have a boyband marketed at teen girls from day one with an openly gay member matters in the battle to normalise gay relationship in public life and the media. Especially when it comes to influencing future generations who will be voting in a few years.
Billysees
@Zodinsbrother: 25 & 27
Important statements —
1. “Well excuse me but in the aim of social progress I think a teen band with an openly gay member is a sign of progress to be celebrated.”
2. To have a boyband marketed at teen girls from day one with an openly gay member matters in the battle to normalise gay relationship in public life and the media. Especially when it comes to influencing future generations who will be voting in a few years.
RandallSM
Zodinsbrother,
“We could live in a world where only Michelin star quality food was available but that would leave most people starving. You need you basic food too for a healthy diet. Entertainment is the same. You need a full and rich tapestry of music from Handel to Kajagoogoo.”
To compare corporate-designed groups of entertainers to basic and simple nutrition is reaching. No one is saying that all music needs to be intelligent, unique and/or challenging. Do boy bands have a place in the entertainment industry? Of course they do, I guess. And because you have put yourself out there, we as consumers have every right to provide commentary just as they have every right to do what they want to do, which brings me to my next point…
“What I find insufferable are comments that all Boybands have no talent, that people should have better taste. This is snobbery of the most basic and barren sort. And at a fundamental level, what else are people supposed to be listening to but other acts just as manufactured and commercial and run by exactly the same music executives.”
They don’t, though! You can replace any member of Union J with any random cute boy with a decent voice (that will be corrected and polished in autotune anyway) and you would not know the difference. This is my whole point with their music (and the music of most boy bands) severely lacking in uniqueness and/or emotional content. You are around my age or so I am guessing, so you’re obviously aware of the 80’s and to some extent I am hoping, music from the 60’s that catered to kids. You can take any two similar bands from either of those periods, stand them side-by-side, and hear differences. They were not all churned out from the same, gross, corporate machines. And even if they were, you could hear the differences in voicing and phrasing. It is not like that today, mainly because the music industry isn’t the same as it was, hell, even ten years ago.
I’m not sure what you mean by “what else are people supposed to listen to…” Oh, I don’t know, how about thinking for oneself instead of having hype-machines and businessmen dictate one’s listening habits? There is sooo much out there it is staggering. And you wouldn’t know it because of sub-par music journalism, but there is so much gay-themed music, or music made by bands with at least one gay member out there that why we keep coming back to this kiddie-nonsense is completely baffling to me.
“Every form of commercial music is as calculated as a boyband and the credible and quality veneer is as much part of the marketing as a boybander’s sixpack. Basically, if you are paying any commercial record label for your music then you are part of the commercial meat market and no better or worse than anyone else.”
Which is why I have a big problem with commercial music. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t state that not every form of commercial music is as calculated as a boy band’s. At one point, it has to be calculated enough to cater to everyone’s tastes, so I agree with that; on the other hand, the machinations of group like Union J and a band like Arcade Fire (who I’m not even a huge fan of, just trying to think of a different form of mainstream music) could not be any more different. To not see or appreciate that difference is wrong and to lump all commercial music together isn’t looking at the big picture.
“As for whether being out and gay matters, I think it does. To have a boyband marketed at teen girls from day one with an openly gay member matters in the battle to normalise gay relationship in public life and the media. Especially when it comes to influencing future generations who will be voting in a few years.”
I shudder to think that a boy band with an openly gay member matters to my assimilation into normal society. Ick on “assimilation” and “normal society!” Snarkiness aside, kids aren’t stupid. It is the younger generation that is currently making the strides for *gulp* normalization, or to a stronger point: civil rights. Pointing out that Cryztal Clear or whoever the next hot boy band is has one gay member is inconsequential.
Come on, live a little! Go out to music/record store and take a chance on something. Dig around, which is so much easier to do now that we don’t need to leave our houses. I’ll help! Check out British symphonic-soul singer Laura Mvula. If you like the strong, soulful voices of someone like Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone or Adele, then I am DEFINITELY sure you will find something to love in Mvula’s rich tapestry of story and song. It’s different than what you would normally hear by today’s mainstream soul standards, but give it a chance. It’s so fucking good. I am unsure if she is part of the community, but her messages about self-reliance, self-esteem and carving your own path should speak to everyone. Hell, JLo is as queer as Homer Simpson, but she is constantly in my face. This is what QUEERTY should be writing about and not some kiddie-band. You can hear it streaming at the link:
http://www.npr.org/2013/04/14/176596473/first-listen-laura-mvula-sing-to-the-moon