Gay icon Own Kind of Music" and "Different") and free love. Her music was later featured in the acclaimed gay film "Beautiful Thing" (1996), adapted from the play of the same name. Singer and actress Bette Midler became recognized as a gay icon in the 1970s. After performing on Broadway, Midler began performing at the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in the city, where she became close to her piano accompanist Barry Manilow, who produced her first major album "The Divine Miss M" (1973). "Despite the way things turned out [with the AIDS crisis], I'm still proud of those days [singing at
Jackpot! The Best Bette Jackpot! The Best Bette Jackpot! The Best Bette (known as The Best Bette in Europe) is a compilation album of recordings by American singer Bette Midler released on September 23, 2008. The album release was originally set to coincide with Midler's current Las Vegas show, "Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On" which debuted on February 20, 2008 at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, but was postponed to April, then August 26, and later to the actual September release. After some thirty-five years in showbusiness and having recorded some twenty albums for Atlantic Records/Warner Music and three for Columbia Records/Sony