Gay icon Kensington of AIDS-related illnesses (bronchial pneumonia). Artists particularly embraced by the gay community during the 1980s included Whitney Houston, Patti Labelle, Alaska, Charo, Dolly Parton, Elaine Paige, Amanda Lear, Prince and Mylène Farmer. Several Britons were seen as gay icons, including singers Boy George, David Bowie, George Michael, Morrissey, Pet Shop Boys, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, and writer Quentin Crisp. Elton John also became a gay icon during this decade, a status strengthened throughout the years. Diana Ross, a long time gay icon, of The Supremes; released a song I'm Coming Out which brought a significance to the phrase of
Gay icon being labeled a gay icon for the first time by a mutual friend. Ball was told of the adoration she received from gay men, as a bar in West Hollywood was known for routinely playing episodes of her television series "I Love Lucy" every weekend. During the late 1970s, many female comedians appeared, joining the ranks of what had stereotypically been a male profession, including Joan Rivers, who began appearing on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". Rivers gained a strong gay following after performing in Greenwich Village, an LGBT friendly area of New York, from the early days of