Boston Pride Announces Entertainment Line-Up for 45th Anniversary - #WickedProud Festival

(Boston, MA) April 24, 2015 – Boston Pride announced today the entertainment line-up for the 2015 Boston Pride Festival on Saturday, June 13, 2015 on Boston’s City Hall Plaza. Comedian Kevin Yee, Country Music sensation Billy Gilman, Boston’s own Johnny Blazes and The Pretty Boys, Grammy nominated artist Mary Lambert, local favorite Jack Romanov and R&B/Jazz vocalist Nhojj will get the party started as parade goers flood City Hall Plaza ready to continue the daylong celebration. As a new twist, the festival’s headliner is going to be announced next week, live on MIX 104.1 FM by former parade grand-marshal Fast Freddy Murphy during the “Gregg and Freddy Show.”

“Boston Pride is thrilled to host these talented artists as part of our monumental celebration,” said Staci Stift, Entertainment Director of Boston Pride. “Each of these individuals harbor a personal story that highlights the purpose and mission of Pride- to serve as voice to promote love, equality, support change and embrace diversity. With this is mind, these incredible artists are a perfect fit for our theme this year 45th Anniversary - #WickedProud.”

Kevin Lee’s original comedy songs have been making people giggle across America and beyond! He tours to clubs, colleges, and festivals. He is a recovering Broadway chorus boy (Mary Poppins, Wicked, and Mamma Mia), and a former member of Quincy Jones’ boy band Youth Asylum. Additionally, Lee has several viral YouTube music videos, recently hitting the front page of Reddit with his AMA: I am a former member of a failed 90’s boy band. Lee shares his sassy coming out story in the official “It Gets Better” book.

Billy Gilman burst onto the national stage in 2000 releasing the hit single “One Voice.” His debut album was certified double platinum in the United States, and he was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest singer to ever reach #1 on the Billboard Top Country Album charts. He has sold five million albums worldwide and garnered awards and nods from the Academy of Country Music, the Country Music Association, Billboard Magazine, and the American Music Association. Gilman made headlines this past fall when he came out as a gay man in a YouTube clip.

Johnny Blazes and The Pretty Boys was formed in 2011 by vaudevillian performer Johnny Blazes as a way of bringing the traditionally pre-recorded, karaoke or lip-synching art of drag into the realm of live music, The Pretty Boys give audiences classic soul and funk songs with an unapologetically glittery flamboyance. The band also uses its powers of soul to cover songs in other genres, including artists that range from Frank Zappa to Spinal Tap, and to re-define those tunes with their own horn-heavy sound. In their first year of existence, The Pretty Boys have been honored to perform at the first ever North Shore Gay Pride Festival in Salem, MA, at The Hynes Convention Center as part of First Night Boston, as well as at clubs, theaters, and fundraisers throughout the Boston area.

Mary Lambert - Before Mary Lambert achieved “quasi-stardom” (as she puts it in her typical self-deprecating way) for writing and singing the hook on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ marriage equality anthem “Same Love,” the Seattle native was an aspiring singer-songwriter who also worked as a brunch waitress and bartender. After years of struggling both financially and personally, Lambert suddenly found herself signed to Capitol Records, releasing an EP (Welcome To The Age of My Body), getting nominated for two Grammy Awards (for “Song of the Year” and “Album of The Year”), and making history performing on the Grammy telecast with Macklemore, Lewis, and Madonna, while Queen Latifah memorably married 33 couples.

Nhojj‘s mission is to ‘make the world better one song at a time’. Nhojj brings his joy for life and innate sense of rhythm and beauty to the world of music. Nhojj’s singing spans many styles, ranging from R&B to Jazz and has shared the stage with icons such as Norah Jones, Regina Belle and Diana King. He was the first gay Indie artist to reach #1 on the MTV Music chart with his same gender loving video, Love. In late 2009, Nhojj opened doors when he became the 1st Black male to win an OUTMusic Award, the Alliance of LGBT Recording Artists & Performers voted “Love” OUTStanding R&B/Soul Song of the Year.

Jack Romanov band formed back in 2012 after meeting at Suffolk University. Made up by Nick Aikens on vocals, Michael Mirabella on guitar, Esteban Cajigas on bass, and Nico Renzulli on drums, the band first started practicing at the school’s practice rooms. Jack Romanov self-released their debut “Get Some Sleep EP” in 2013 and followed that up by signing with Naked Ear Records the next year. Their collaborating with producer Zach Bloomstein led to the band’s first album “Sincerely, Jack Romanov.”
The album featured heavy blues and garage rock influences with “Words” serving as the first single.

More information and details for Boston Pride’s 2015 Pride Week can be found at www.bostonpride.org.

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About Boston Pride

Boston Pride produces events and activities to achieve inclusivity, equality, respect, and awareness in Greater Boston and beyond. Fostering diversity, unity, visibility and dignity, we educate, communicate and advocate by building and strengthening community connections. Kicking off June 5 through June 14, Boston Pride will host ten days of events and activities that bring people together from all walks of life to celebrate diversity. Opening with the Annual Flag Raising Ceremony at City Hall, Pride Week 2015 will also include the Boston Pride Gala, Pride Day @ Faneuil Hall, the Pride Diplomatic Reception, the Human Rights Forum, Queeraoke, Pride Night @ Fenway Park, the Boston Pride Festival and Parade, the Pride Youth Dance, the Back Bay Block Party, and the JP Block Party. The theme of this year’s Pride celebration is “45th Anniversary - #WickedProud.”