The B-52s were always queer, though not overtly, and this book dissects the coded queer messaging in their music, using their 1989 album Cosmic Thing as a focal point.

Alongside the author’s own queer awakening, Crighton investigates the band’s history and recorded work to date, providing cultural context along the way, and proves what was obvious all along – the B-52s aren’t just pop culture icons, they are queer history.

Cosmic Thing took the world by storm in 1989 in the wake of the band’s single greatest tragedy: losing guitarist Ricky Wilson to complications from AIDS in 1985. Cosmic Thing is a celebration of queer joy in the face of that seismic setback. Not only did the B-52s have to fight through their pain and grief to make their fifth full length record, the band was also up against a conservative government under Reagan (then Bush), a misunderstood virus still ravaging the queer community, and an indifferent public after years out of the spotlight.

Watching the band enjoy their greatest success in the face of adversity was part of what made Cosmic Thing such a marvel to behold – as miraculous as the B-52s’ entire career.

1. ‘Deadbeat Club’ – 1977-1979
2. ‘Dance This Mess Around’ – 1979-1980
3. ‘Deep Sleep’ – 1981-1989
4. ‘Cosmic Thing’ – 1989-1990
5. ‘Keep This Party Going’ – 1990-2025

Available from Bloomsbury

Pete Crighton is a Toronto based author, freelance writer and record collector. His first book The Vinyl Diaries: My Soundtrack To Queer Joy was released in May 2025 and his work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star and the West End Phoenix. Crighton sings (badly) in the Dolly Parton choir “The Tennessee Mountain Homos.”

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.