The (Mighty Real) Life + Times Of Sylvester

Remembering The Legendary "Queen Of Disco"

SYLVESTER
(September 6, 1947-December 16, 1988)

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed I reference Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” on a regular basis.

Part of it is that I’ve been boogy-ing my woogy to that song since I was a wee lad. But it’s a lot more than simple nostalgia. To me, Sylvester is way more than a disco diva—he’s a legendary queen who blazed trails for generations of LGBTQ folks.

He showed us how to “color outside the lines,” how to live boldly and beautifully, and how authenticity and joy can be not only liberating, but also radical acts of resistance.

Long before “gender-fluid” or “non-binary” were part of the mainstream lexicon, Sylvester was living it—fabulously, fearlessly, and fiercely.

Born in Watts, raised in the Pentecostal church, Sylvester turned gospel roots into glitter-soaked liberation. His voice? Otherworldly. His style? High camp meets high fashion. His presence? Electric.

And, of course, Sylvester didn’t do it alone. He surrounded himself with powerhouse talent. Take The Weather Girls—Martha Wash and Izora Armstead—who sang backup (as Two Tons O' Fun) before storming the charts with “It’s Raining Men.” Or his deep friendships with legends like Etta James, who befriended the young Sylvester.

These connections weren’t just about music. They were about chosen family, about finding and creating community in a world that wasn’t always ready to embrace him.

What I love most about Sylvester’s story is that it’s never just about disco or nightlife—it’s about a life lived out loud. He used sequins and falsetto as both armor and art, a glittering declaration of identity: This is who I am. And in doing so, he gave the rest of us permission to do the same.

Sadly, Sylvester was one of the first major artists to share his AIDS diagnosis. That courage, in the early days of the crisis, is part of his legacy too. But I don’t want to dwell only on the tragic loss of his life. I want to focus the mirror ball on his light—the glamour, the grit, the music that still makes us move…and still moves us.

Gone too soon, yes. But Sylvester remains timeless. Every time I play “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” I feel his candle still burning. Bright. Bold. Unafraid.

So here’s to the “Queen of Disco.” Long may he/she/they reign—on the dance floor and in our hearts.

Love and light!
Clint 🌈✌️

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ON THIS DAY = SEPTEMBER 6

BIRTHDAYS

• 1757 = Marquis de Lafayette = French general

• 1860 = Jane Addams = American social worker and Nobel Laureate 🌈

• 1879 = Max Schreck = German actor

• 1885 = Otto Kruger = American actor

• 1899 = Billy Rose = American composer and manager

• 1900 = Julien Green = American writer 🌈

• 1913 = Julie Gibson = American actor and singer

• 1917 = John Berry = American-French actor and filmmaker

• 1925 = Jimmy Reed = American singer-songwriter

• 1930 = Charles Foley = American game designer and Twister co-creator

• 1935 = Isabelle Collin Dufresne = French actor and author

• 1937 = Jo Anne Worley = American actor, comedian, and singer

• 1939 = Brigid Berlin = American actor, painter, and photographer

• 1939 = David Allan Coe = American singer-songwriter

• 1940 = Elizabeth Murray = American painter and illustrator

• 1943 = Roger Waters = English singer-songwriter

• 1944 = Swoosie Kurtz = American actor

• 1947 = Jane Curtin = American actor and comedian

• 1947 = Sylvester = American singer-songwriter 🌈

• 1950 = Tseng Kwong Chi = Chinese-American photographer 🌈

• 1964 = Rosie Perez = American actor, dancer, and director

• 1967 = Macy Gray = American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor

• 1969 = CeCe Peniston = American singer-songwriter

• 1970 = Rhett Miller = American singer-songwriter

• 1971 = Dolores O'Riordan = Irish singer-songwriter

• 1972 = Dylan Bruno = American actor and model

• 1972 = Idris Elba = English actor

• 1972 = Justina Machado = American actor

• 1972 = Anika Noni Rose = American actor and singer

• 1985 = Lauren Lapkus = American actor and comedian

• 1999 = Nicholas Alexander Chavez = American actor

EVENTS

• 1997 = The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place in London. Well over a million people line the streets and 2.5 billion watch around the world on television.

• 2018 = Supreme Court of India decriminalised all consensual sex among adults in private, making homosexuality legal on the Indian lands.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• National Hummingbird Day

• National Play Outside Day

• National Read A Book Day

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PORTRAIT + QUOTE + VIDEO OF THE DAY

SYLVESTER JAMES JR. = MIGHTY REAL

"Oh God, don't ask me how I got started or how old I am or about The Cockettes. Let's just say that I came from an upper-middle class Black bourgeois family in Los Angeles, and that I left a boring nine-to-five job to move to San Francisco. Better yet, let's say I was the first test tube baby."
Sylvester