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We've come a long way from the Village People to Adam Lambert. Maybe not musically, but certainly socially. California may not know it, but homosexuality is as American as "American Idol." The times, thankfully, are changing. Lambert announced his sexuality on the cover of "Rolling Stone," and the world yawned. But coming-out parties were not always so manufactured and celebrated. It took a generation of closeted, ambivalent, and tortured gay musicians to allow Lambert to step out so easily.

There was a time, not so long ago, when a gay singer only had three paths: be a caricature, stay in the closet, or claim "bisexuality," that catch-all phrase that presumes homosexuality but makes it seem hip. Bisexuals were cool, counter-culture. Bisexuals could sleep with supermodels AND Mick Jagger. Who WOULDN'T want to be bisexual?

Being gay, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as cool. Especially for a rock star. Gay singers played Vegas or discos. A gay guy would never front a metal band or an alt-rock group. Those guys were straight. Maybe bisexual. But definitely not gay. Dressing up like an Indian at the YMCA? Gay. Wearing leather from head to toe and carrying a riding crop. Not gay. Right?

Here are GetBack's Gay Rock Pioneers: ten musicians who made it easy for Adam Lambert, Clay Aiken, and every other future "American Idol" runner-up (and, eventually, "AI" winner) to say, "I'm gay."  Now if they could only make music half as good as these guys.

GALLERY: View All of the Gay Rock Pioneers

Freddie Mercury
The beloved Queen frontman is the Susan B. Anthony of gay rock stars. If not for Freddie, the music world would be a closeted, dysfunctional hinterland. Mercury contracted AIDS in 1987 and denied rumors of his illness until a day before his  death in 1991. This, despite years of romps at gay bathhouses, an affair with a male record exec, and a five-year live-in relationship. Homophobia and gay-bashing ran deep during the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the '80s. Mercury can be forgiven for fearing that fans would shun his classic rock band if he came out. Still, he's a prime example of how far we've come.

Rob Halford
Maybe the leather and studs should have been a clue. While right-wing paranoids were accusing Judas Priest of placing secret Satanic messages in their recordings, Halford was busy living a secret life, fairly certain that coming out would jeopardize his macho heavy-metal franchise. He finally did step out in 1998, making the world safe for gays and straights to bang their heads side by side.

David Bowie
Throughout the '70s, rumors flew about Bowie's sexual orientation and romantic partners, many of them fueled by the Thin White Duke himself. He declared his bisexuality in a 1972 interview and again in a '76 Playboy article. He since said he regretted it. He also has been in a heterosexual marriage with supermodel Iman since 1992.

Elton John
Elton John kept perhaps the biggest secret that wasn't a secret. His flamboyant stage costumes and diva behavior didn't leave many guessing about his sexuality. Still, he and his fans had a "don't ask, don't tell" policy throughout the '70s, aside from the occasional requisite "bisexual" statement. He even married female Renate Blauel on Valentine's Day, 1984, to help feed the straight fantasy. By the '90s, however, John had a new head of hair and a new gay lover, David Furnish. The two entered a civil partnership in 2005 and are one of rock's royal gay couples.

Michael Stipe
No one really suspected or cared that R.E.M.'s singer was gay until the 1980s AIDS scare, when suddenly everyone became concerned about Stipe's skinny frame. Rumors started flying that Stipe deflected with characteristic crypticness. Among his many quotable "is he/isn't he" lines is this one: the person who deserves to know who he's sleeping with is the person sitting on his lap. As Stipe began enunciating more clearly on his records, he also became comfortable talking more concretely about his sex life. In 2001 he revealed he was in a relationship with "an amazing man."

Bob Mould
Husker Du's '80s Minneapolis guitar noise was the epitome of teen angst and alienation, inspiring indie and mainstream bands from the Pixies to Green Day. At the center of the fury was a closeted Bob Mould, who was outed in the '90s, well into his solo career. He is now a public supporter of same-sex marriage.

Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge is the only woman in our boy's club of Gay Rock Pioneers for two reasons: she rocks harder than most guys, and she has remained one of the most dedicated gay rights activists of any of her gay musical peers. Since coming out in 1993, Etheridge has shone a spotlight on same-sex marriage, parenthood (she has four kids, including a son whose biological dad is David Crosby), and the movement for equal rights.

Boy George
Boy George is the last of a breed: an openly gay performer whose stage demeanor was so gay that it made his homosexuality a non-issue. It was as if he wasn't gay at all, the same way that Sammy Davis, Jr., wasn't really black to racists of our parents' generation. So what if George was sleeping with drummer Jon Moss? Fans were more concerned with his drug habit, which, sadly, has shown no signs of abating 20 years later.

George Michael
From his "Teen Beat" years in Wham! to his five-o'clock-shadowed heyday as a solo superstar, George Michael had stadiums of girls fooled. He kept his homosexuality a secret for years and claims he was more worried about his mother's reaction than his fans'. No word how mom reacted to his '98 bust in a Beverly Hills public toilet. Michael has been in a long-term relationship with former cheerleader coach Kenny Goss. They share homes in London and Dallas. Michael's mom knows.

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