Actor, musician, writer, and director Billy Porter is embarking on his first-ever music tour this spring. 

Porter, 53, will visit 25 cities across the United States. “The Black Mona Lisa Tour: Volume 1,” tells Porter’s life story through song. 

The show will feature songs from his new album due this fall, “Black Mona Lisa,” and his well-loved hits like “Love Is on the Way” and “Love Yourself.” It also nods to his long Broadway career and role in “Pose.”  

The tour kicked off in Seattle in late April and will end in Mashantucket, Conn., in early June. As part of the tour, Porter will visit his hometown of Pittsburgh and perform at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.

The process of crafting his new album was a collaborative one, Porter said. He had a clear vision for the project — to inspire, encourage, and motivate. Porter wants to bring people healing, joy, and peace through the show, and “give the world a big bear hug.” 

“We’ve been in the middle of a very, very intense collective trauma, still in it,” Porter said in an interview with the Washington Blade. “And I believe that it’s inside of the gathering, that’s where the healing lies.”

For example, in the latest song released from his new album, “Fashion,” the idea of fashion is aligned with kindness, love and joy. It’s also about being Porter’s authentic self. 

Porter has defied the rules of fashion in bold and theatrical ways on red carpets, at fashion weeks, and parties. Donning stylish sashaying skirts and sparkly suits, Porter has utilized fashion as a tool for change. Porter wasn’t always at the forefront of this movement, he said. As a kid and in his early career, he refrained from experimentation in fashion because of how much queerness was seen as an impediment. 

But around 2017, the fashion designer Rick Owens, who is known for his gender-fluid designs, inspired Porter.

“It wasn’t until I became part of this revolution of the de-gendering of fashion that I realized it was a thing,” Porter said. “People could be so triggered by what other people chose to wear. I didn’t realize that the gendering of fashion had created such a fracture in our culture.” 

There’s no question Porter inspires many in his way of unapologetically being himself. His own inspiration, he said, is his mother. She’s lived with a degenerative condition for her whole life and now resides in a nursing home. He’s watched her get up every day and be present, despite all of the curveballs life threw at her.  

“She’s my hero. She is the one. If she can show up every day for her life, I don’t have no excuse,” Porter said. 

A changing industry 

Porter tried to go on a music tour before, he said, but the industry wasn’t ready for him. 

“The music business was very homophobic and they kicked my Black gay ass out,” Porter said. “Now, it’s on my own terms.” 

A lot has stayed the same in the music business, but the industry has shifted since Porter’s first album, “Untitled,” came out in 1997. He said he can exist to the fullest extent of who he is and being queer is no longer a full-on liability. 

Career paths in show business aren’t linear, he said. If he could tell his younger self anything after all these years, it’s to keep going, stay in it, and focus on the work.

“I knew I had talent,” Porter said. 

To purchase tickets, visit theebillyporter.com/#tour.