The mysterious disco diva who invited everyone to “Follow Me” in 1978 & continues to keep them guessing today
Sweet Revenge.Lear had previously spoken about how she’d fallen in love with disco music—then at the peak of its popularity—but found many of the lyrics in the hit songs of the time banal.Subscribe to our daily newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.She wanted to bring something a little more thought-provoking and esoteric to the genre.
The Faustian “Follow Me” is about a girl tempted by the devil but who ultimately resists his charms.Besides her sensual, high-concept brand of disco, Lear’s appeal to some gay fans possibly also lay in her enigmatic backstory.
At a time when so many gay people led double lives, her success suggested one could reinvent one’s self and lead a glamorous, jet-set existence if one worked hard enough.Pinning down Lear’s true backstory remains as elusive as catching a butterfly.
Most biographers believe she was born in Saigon, Vietnam at some point in 1939, although Lear herself has claimed it was 1950.A Guardian article from 2020 succinctly summed up many of the discrepancies in her life story.“Lear’s background remains a mystery.
