Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP, Executive Producer of Entertainment for the Advocate Channel. A media veteran, she writes about the
intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.
Brantley Gilbert, Kid Rock, and Lee Brice are performers in Turning Point's alternative to the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images | Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images | Jason Kempin/Getty Images
This Sunday, when millions of people around the world are watching Bad Bunny headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show, a much smaller number will be changing the channel to conservative networks like OAN and social media streams to watch a much less exciting alternative.
When Bad Bunny was announced as the Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner, conservatives immediately threw a fit. They said it was offensive to have the entertainment centerpiece of the biggest sporting event in the United States be performed in Spanish. They labeled the Puerto Rican singer "unpatriotic" for calling out ICE and saying he feared for his fans if he toured in the continental U.S. They said his allyship to the LGBTQ+ community makes him un-American.
The Bad Bunny hate eventually got so big that conservatives made a petition to replace him, and when that didn't work, they made their own show.
Turning Point USA, the right-wing organization co-founded by Charlie Kirk, has announced it will host an "All-American Halftime Show" as counter-programming to the Super Bowl's.
"The All-American Halftime Show is an opportunity for all Americans to enjoy a halftime show with no agenda other than to celebrate faith, family, and freedom," Turning Point spokesman Andrew Kolvet said in a release, per USA Today.
Kid Rock is by far the biggest name on the ticket. The Detroit-based singer and rapper has had hits with songs like "Cowboy," "Picture," and "All Summer Long." His last charting song was 2015's "First Kiss," which peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100.
He is a vocal Trump supporter and has performed at rallies for the president and at his 2025 inauguration.
"We're approaching this show like David and Goliath," Rock said in a statement about the halftime show, according to USA Today. "Competing with the pro football machine and global pop superstar is almost impossible... or is it?"
"He's said he's having a dance party, wearing a dress, and singing in Spanish?" Rock continued, about Bad Bunny. "Cool. We plan to play great songs for folks who love America."
Gilbert is a 41-year-old country singer with five singles having topped the U.S. Billboard Country Airplay chart. He is perhaps best known for a 2023 incident in which a concert-goer threw a can of Bud Light onto the stage shortly after trans influencer, actor, and writer Dylan Mulvaney made a sponsored post for the beer brand.
"Yeah, fuck that," Gilbert shouted before slamming the beer can on the ground.
More recently, he appeared at the Rock The Country festival alongside other conservative artists, including Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, and Jelly Roll.
Barrett is a 25-year-old country pop singer who appeared on the reality competition American Idol in 2018. She's had three songs appear on the Billboard Hot 100, including her debut single "I Hope," which peaked at number 3.
Brice is a 46-year-old country singer with eight number-one singles on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, including "I Drive Your Truck," "I Don't Dance," and "One of Them Girls."
Bad Bunny in promo video for the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show.
NFL
Conservatives who lost their minds over Bad Bunny — the biggest male pop star in the world — being chosen to headline the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show are about to find out that this year's broadcast will be much, much gayer than expected.
In the last few weeks, NFL (organizer), Apple Music (Halftime Show sponsor), and NBC (broadcast network) have been adding other singers who will also perform at the 2026 Super Bowl. Given that they aren't headliners, the general public hasn't reacted to these new names as intensely as they did for Bad Bunny headlining the Halftime Show.
Let's just say that conservatives are in for a rude awakening!
Who else is performing at the Super Bowl 2026?
Lesbian country singer Brandi Carlile (our very own Out100 Icon of the Year in 2023) and Green Day (fronted by bisexual vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong) have both joined the Super Bowl LX lineup of performers.
Carlile will perform "America the Beautiful" during the pregame segment of the Super Bowl. It do take nerve, given today's politics, but we couldn't think of a better choice and voice.
Meanwhile, Green Day will open this year's Super Bowl telecast with a "high-energy opening ceremony celebrating Super Bowl's 60th anniversary at Levi's Stadium," as announced by the NFL this past weekend. (Is the band performing "American Idiot"? Probably not, but one can dream!)
Charlie Puth, Brandi Carlile, Coco Jones, and Green Day announced as performers for the 2026 Super Bowl.NFL
Charlie Puth, who has openly embraced his large gay fandom, will also perform in the pregame segment. Plus, Coco Jones will sing "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which, if you know the song, will send a big, beautiful message to the anti-DEI bigots.
We can't wait to see how this turns out.
Super Bowl LX is scheduled to air on Sunday February 8, on NBC, Telemundo (for Spanish speakers), Peacock, and NFL+.
Featureflash Photo Agency/Shuttestock; MLM IMAGES Los Angeles/Shutterstock; Tinseltown/Shutterstock
Kim Petras stirred up controversy when she announced that her record label has “refused” to give her a release date for her finished album, and now other pop stars are coming forward to support her.
In a string of revealing social media posts on Jan. 20, Petras accused Republic Records of refusing to provide a release date for her new album, tentatively called Detour, despite it being finished six months ago, and said her label has yet to pay her collaborators "for the work they’ve done.”
The 33-year old singer, who became the first openly trans woman to win Best Pop Duo/Group Performance when she took home a Grammy in 2023, also noted that a music video she “filmed and self funded” has yet to be released and that she’s “tired of having no control over my own life or career.”
Petras said she wants to "self-fund and self-curate" her own music and has “formally requested” to be dropped by Republic Records, but assured fans that she plans on “dropping Detour regardless.”
After going public with her disappointment in the inaction of her label, Petras has found support from fellow musicians. Pop star Kesha commiserated with Petras, likening it to her own experiences of having to leave her record label.
“I spent many years fighting for the rights to myself,” Kesha commented on one of Petras X posts. “Watching another woman realize that the 'golden cage' is still a cage isn’t a victory—it’s a tragedy we have to stop repeating. Freedom isn’t a privilege; it’s a birthright. I hear you, I’m sorry Kim.”
The two singers were previously thought to be at odds after Kesha came forward with accusations of verbal, sexual, and physical abuse against music producer Dr. Luke, who produced most of Petras’ past songs, and the “I like Ur Look” singer seemingly supported him, telling NME that she “work with somebody I believe to be an abuser of women,” before later issuing an apology.
While singer-songwriter Grimes didn’t comment directly on one of Petras’ posts, it sparked a lengthy response about the state of the music industry and why artists should stop signing with labels that just want to “throw gasoline” on songs they predict will be hits.
“No amount of advice seems to be able to convince enough artists to stop signing to labels cuz u rly do need to learn this first hand (even I did),” Grimes wrote, adding, “It's interesting to me how undissected the economics of music are and how profoundly and negatively they are impacting music rn.”
Singer Julia Michaels, who used to be signed with Republic Records, also spoke out on behalf of Petras, commenting “Been there” on Billboard's post about the controversy.
Jacob Tierney, who created the popular Canadian hockey romance show, has expressed interest in working with Canadian pop idol on the upcoming second season.
"I have a list of dream songs that I would like very much to find a way [to include]," Tierney said on the podcast What Chaos!, per Vulture.
When asked if that list of dream songs includes anything by iconic "Call Me Maybe" singer, Tierney said he "didn't even try" to get her for the first season due to budgetary restrictions, but "she was on my playlist for when I wrote."
Tierney added that he "will definitely be asking next time."
"I was even gonna ask her to write a new song, that's what I was gonna do," Tierney said. "I was gonna be like, 'Is there a world in which you'd like to do a new song?'"
Now, fans of both Jepsen and Heated Rivalry may have even more reason to get excited, as Jepsen has followed Heated Rivalry's official Instagram account.
While Jepsen following the account is not a guarantee that she will collaborate with the show, it does show that she is aware of it, and likely has heard that Tierney wants her music for the show.
Fans are already expressing their excitement on social media.
"OH GODLY RAE JEPSEN PLEASE TELL ME THEY OFFERED YOU ENOUGH MONEY," wrote one X user.
"Canadian gay icon on the soundtrack of a Canadian gay series just makes so much sense," wrote another.
Recently, Miley Cyrus also made headlines for saying she is "so in" for recording music for Heated Rivalry if given the opportunity. Though star François Arnaud, noting the show's limited budget, responded by saying he hoped "she might give us a discount.”
Ron Adar/Shutterstock; Amigo Records/Republic Records
If Zohran Mamdani is a Bunhead, then Kim Petras can be an animal rights activist. That's how pop music and politics work in 2025, after all.
It didn't take long for Petras to catch wind that Mamdani had mentioned her name in a new Interview feature, going as far as noting one of his favorite tracks for the singer — "I Like Ur Look" — which is a pretty recent release for the Grammy-winning musician. (For context, BunHead is the name of a label that Petras created for herself to release music independently. The name/term was then assigned to Petras's fans, similarly to how Lady Gaga has Little Monsters.)
As a way to lean into the name-dropping but also advocate for a cause that she cares deeply about (at a time when the mayor of New York City is quite literally listening to her in his ears, by his own account), Petras took this opportunity to ask the new NYC mayor to ban horse carriages from Central Park, thus freeing the horses that have been chained to those carriages for as long as they've lived, as reported by Rolling Stone.
Petras shared a screenshot of the Interview conversation on X and wrote in the caption of the post: "Zohran Mamdani I am willing to privately send you my new album if we can get the horse carriages banned from Central Park."
The presence of horse-drawn carriages in Central Park has been a hot topic in New York City for a while now, prompting several celebrities, influencers, local residents, and animal rights organizations to urge for the horses to be freed. Toward the end of his mayoral tenure, Eric Adams seemed to join the movement in favor of banning the Central Park horse carriages.
In a speech, Mamdani acknowledged that concern as a "significant issue" as well. Given that he's soon taking over the role of NYC mayor — whereas Adams is on his way out — all eyes have turned to Mamdani to see how he will navigate the issue once he's in office.
The screenshot in Petras's X post is a tiny part of a much larger conversation between Mel Ottenberg and Mamdani, which was published by Interview magazine on Monday — just a couple of days before he's sworn in as the new mayor of New York City. "We met at the transition office," Ottenberg described their surroundings, "which looks like a cross between Being John Malkovich and Severance but REAL (we loved the location vibe)."
In case you haven't read the interactions between Ottenberg and Mamdani for Interview, Ottenberg asked Mamdani if he had a playlist that helps him "get hyped."
Mamdani replied, "Oh, man. I have a few songs. My wife prefers calmer music in the morning. I, for some reason, want to listen to Kim Petras or Lil Wayne or Madonna."
"Beautiful," Ottenberg replied.
Mamdani added, "At eight in the morning, it doesn't make much sense."
"I love that," Ottenberg remarked. "Kim Petras was in our last issue."
In response, Mamdani declared that "I Like Ur Look" (spelled "Like Your Look" in the published piece) is a "great song."
Now that Mamdani is stepping into the role of NYC mayor, we hope that he's able to hear how upsetting this saga has been for animal lovers who are watching those horses being mistreated for as long as they've been there.