Arts & Entertainment
Asteroid named after Freddie Mercury for his 70th birthday
former Queen frontman joins David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix
Freddie Mercury (Photo by Carl Lender; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Former Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was honored with his own asteroid by the International Astronomical Union and the Minor Planet Center on Sept. 5, what would have been the singer’s 70th birthday.
Bandmate and astrophysicist Brian May made the announcement in a video uploaded to YouTube on Sunday.
Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The asteroid was discovered by Belgian astronomer Henri Debehogne in 1991, the year of Mercury’s death. It reflects only about 30 percent of light making it difficult to see without a powerful telescope. The asteroid is three-and-a-half kilometers (about two miles).
According to The Guardian, the asteroid orbits around the sun at 20 kilometers per second and won’t come closer than 350 million kilometers to Earth.
“It’s just a dot of light, but it’s a very special dot of light,” May says in the video.
Other famous names to receive their own asteroid include Bruce Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie.
Check out Asteroid 17473 Freddiemercury’s orbit diagram here.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Demonstrators disrupt OMB director hearing over PEPFAR
HIV/AIDS group NMAC is ‘destabilized’ and in financial crisis: sources
Madonna announces release date for new album
Senegalese court issues first conviction under new anti-LGBTQ law
Evan Glass is leaning on his record. Is that enough for Montgomery County’s top job?
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Comings & Goings
Trump budget targets ‘gender extremism’
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
