Big Freedia Is Ready to Take San Francisco to Church

We’d be living in a different world today if Big Freedia’s life hadn’t taken the turn that it did. Back in the ’90s, when the Queen Diva of bounce music was still in high school in New Orleans, church was her life. Not only did she spend Sundays at Pressing Onward Baptist for service and Bible study, but she went on Saturdays for choir practice and Friday nights for musicals.

“Growing up in the hood, it helped me to survive,” she tells KQED during a video call, as makeup artists’ hands flit around her cheekbones.

Big Freedia had dreams of becoming a choir director, but found another calling when a high-energy, booty-shaking new sound began to explode out of her neighborhood. In the 25 years since, Freedia has brought bounce from New Orleans’ underground queer scene to the mainstream. As she’s performed at every major festival and collaborated with Drake and Beyoncé, opening doors for other LGBTQ+ artists along the way, her faith has kept her grounded.

On her new album Pressing Onward, out Aug. 8, Big Freedia returns to her roots, bringing gospel harmonies and hopeful messages of faith together with bounce beats. The album draws a throughline between the ecstasy music can create both in the church and in the club. This synergy has a long history in queer Black music, going back to church-trained, genderfluid San Francisco disco star Sylvester, one of Big Freedia’s early inspirations.

At San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival on Sunday, Aug. 10, Freedia will perform Pressing Onward with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, offering an uplifting moment of praise for fans of all walks of life — including queer listeners who grew up feeling excluded from their religious communities, and those currently reeling from a hostile political climate and rollbacks to trans rights.

“Music is messaging, and music is what feeds the soul. And I’m definitely using my platform to be able to speak on trans rights, and just all of the rights of people in the LGBTQ+ community,” Freedia says.

Gospel has held Big Freedia up during some of the toughest moments of her life, including the recent death of her longtime partner Devon, who passed away from diabetes complications in May. For her, performing this music at recent gigs like Nashville Pride and the Newport Folk Festival has been healing.

“When I’m on stage, I’m able to forget all the troubles of the world and lay down all of my burden,” Freedia says.

In addition to her Sunday gospel set on Outside Lands’ main stage, Big Freedia will DJ on Saturday, Aug. 9 at Dolores’, Outside Lands’ open-air queer club. She’ll share the stage with drag performers from the venerable San Francisco parties Princess and Reparations, which both take place regularly at the Oasis nightclub in SOMA. That night, Freedia will hit the Oasis stage for her official release party of Pressing Onward, with support from drag artists like Nicki Jizz, Tyson Checkin and more.

“[Fans] have been rockin’ with me for a long time in the Bay Area, and I think it’s going to be even better this year,” she says.

Jacob Stensberg, the artistic director and conductor of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, is currently preparing to lead 75 singers of all faiths and backgrounds to join Big Freedia at Outside Lands on Sunday. While SFGMC doesn’t often sing religious music, Stensberg says, Big Freedia’s inclusive message transcends boundaries.

“She is fearless. She does not let the social confines of our culture define who she is,” says Stensberg. “And that comes through in her music. I think it is the farthest out-of-the box thinking to take gospel music and bounce music and create this spiritual sanctuary where people can be themselves through the lens of Christianity. She is the leader for us in the way we develop our own self-identity, our own journey of self-determination.”

Outside Lands’ commitment to LGBTQ+ programming stands out during a year that’s seen corporate sponsors pull out of Pride celebrations around the country; the National Endowment for the Arts align itself with President Trump’s anti-trans executive order; and private funders back away from LGBTQ+ organizations. (Even Oasis is closing its nightclub at the end of the year because of financial issues.)

In addition to Big Freedia, Outside Lands features other queer artists on the main stage, including Tyler, The Creator and Doechii. Dolores’ spotlights three major LGBTQ+ event producers — Oasis Arts, Polyglamorous and Fake and Gay — who have all booked packed lineups featuring some of San Francisco’s best-known drag artists and DJs.

Asked about the festival’s commitment to its queer artists and fans, Nick Barrie, a talent buyer for the festival, has a simple answer: “It’s wrong not to,” he says.

For Big Freedia’s part, amid the many ongoing fights for LGBTQ+ rights, she wants to leave fans with a feeling of happiness — much like how she felt on those Sundays spent at Pressing Onward Baptist Church.

“That whole weekend,” she says, “I’m excited to … just bring joy to people so they can have that moment to just lay their hair down and just party with me.”

Big Freedia performs at Outside Lands in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Aug. 9 and 10, and at Oasis (298 11th St., San Francisco) on Aug. 9. Her album ‘Pressing Onward‘ releases Aug. 8.