WATCH: Meet the trailblazing queer artist who wrote for Cyndi Lauper, Pet Shop Boys & the ‘Friends’ theme song
definitely know her work.When you’re watching classic episodes of Friends, and The Rembrandts’ iconic theme song kicks in with, “So no one told you life was gonna be this way,” you can’t help but respond with the clap-clap-clap-clap.
Allee Willis wrote that!Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.When you’re at a wedding—especially one that happens to be in September—you can almost guarantee the Earth, Wind & Fire classic “September” will play and get everyone out on the dance floor.
That’s another Allee Willis joint!When you ask someone what they think is the most show-stopping Broadway 11 o’clock number of all time, odds are they’ll tell you it’s “I’m Here” from The Color Purple.
And, yup, she wrote that, too!That’s truly just scratching the surface. We could’ve also brought up The Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield’s “What Have I Done to Deserve This?,” her Grammy Award-winning work on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, and so, so much more.The point is: Willis’s impact on culture is pretty profound, and yet it’s only after her passing (she died of cardiac arrest in 2019) that it feels like the world is catching up to her genius and beginning to understand what a trailblazer she was, especially as a queer artist.Thankfully, she had the foresight to record much of her life and work, dating all the way back to the ’50s.
