【コラム】ハイエナジーとLGBTQ：解放とアイデンティティを象徴したダンスミュージック

Column en 80s 90s Hi NRG

23 Aug 2025

【コラム】ハイエナジーとLGBTQ：解放とアイデンティティを象徴したダンスミュージック

Dance music that symbolizes liberation and identity

Text: mmr｜Theme: Symbolic music of “liberation and solidarity” that overlaps with American gay culture and the era of the HIV/AIDS crisis

Birth of Hi-NRG and gay club culture

From the late 1970s to the 1980s, Hi-NRG (High Energy) emerged as an electronic and fast-paced dance music derived from disco. The sound was characterized by fast tempos (120-140 BPM), synth-based riffs, and dramatic female vocals, and had a more cathartic and energetic feel than traditional disco.

Hi-NRG had a particularly strong following in gay clubs.After the Stonewall Riots in the 1970s, the LGBTQ community sought a place for their expression and identity in the club scene, and Hi-NRG functioned as their “music of liberation.”

Role of Hi-NRG in LGBTQ

🌈 symbol of freedom

At a time when homosexuality was still subject to discrimination and prejudice, Hi-NRG provided “a space where people could dance and love each other without being tied down by anyone.”Club dance floors were safe spaces where people could escape from the oppression of society, and Hi-NRG was essential as background music.

🌈 Expression of identity

Hi-NRG’s lyrics often have themes of love, desire, and self-liberation, and they resonate not only with straight love, but also with the earnest feelings of LGBTQ people. For example, Evelyn Thomas’s High Energy'' and Hazell Dean'sSearchin’’’ became deeply engraved in the club scene as gay anthems.

🌈 Fusion with drug culture

Bobby Orlando’s Divine songs (e.g. “You Think You’re a Man”) are emblematic of the direct connection between Hi-NRG and drag queen culture.Her performances were radical and provocative, breaking down the boundaries of music and gender expression.

Relationship between representative artists and LGBTQ people

Sylvester

A singer who was openly gay.Their signature song “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” is the origin of Hi-NRG and is a timeless masterpiece as a gay anthem.

Hazell Dean

A UK Hi-NRG singer who was so supported in the club scene that she was called the “gay queen.”Many of her songs speak for LGBTQ love and desire.

Divine

While active as a drag queen, she gained worldwide attention with Hi-NRG.They boldly displayed sexual expression and integrated music and gender politics.

Evelyn Thomas A diva who defined the genre with her signature song “High Energy.”It was explosively popular in gay clubs and spread Hi-NRG worldwide.

Hi-NRG and the HIV/AIDS crisis

In the 1980s, HIV/AIDS struck the LGBTQ community and claimed many lives. During this period, Hi-NRG became both an escape to forget one’s sorrows and a soundtrack of life and death in memory of fallen comrades.

Sylvester himself died of AIDS, but his music continues to be played in clubs today.

Hi-NRG’s legacy and modern impact

Hi-NRG eventually evolved into Chicago house and Eurobeat, and has left an influence on today’s EDM and hyperpop. Particularly in the LGBTQ community, Hi-NRG classics continue to be played at Pride events and gay clubs, providing a way to relive that sense of freedom.

Contemporary Drag Race culture and hyper-pop artists (SOPHIE, Kim Petras, etc.) carry Hi-NRG’s DNA of exaggerated energy and gender expression.

More than just dance music, it’s a symbol of freedom and liberation

Hi-NRG is more than just “dance music”; it is a genre that embodies the history, struggle, and liberation of the LGBTQ community. Driving beats and shimmering synths were a celebration of life and a means of escaping society’s oppression for gay clubs in the 1980s.

Even today, Hi-NRG continues to be reevaluated as an essential presence when discussing the relationship between music and sexuality.