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 her career. Rivers' frank and sharp use of wit and insults (largely turned toward herself) made her an instant gay icon. The first gay icon of the 1970s underground gay disco scene was the "Queen of Disco" Donna Summer, whose dance songs became anthems for the clubbing gay community, and her music the back beat to the battles of the gay rights movement of the 1970s. Her number one single "Love to Love You Baby"—regarded as an "absolute disco epic"—not only became a gay anthem because of its "unabridged sexuality", but it also brought European-oriented disco to the United States