For a long time, finding a song that was actually about loving women meant squinting at the lyrics and hoping. Not anymore. Between the 90s icons who paved the way and a new wave of artists who are very openly singing about girls, the lesbian song catalogue is stacked.
So we’ve pulled together the best lesbian songs – the classic anthems, the new ones you’ll hear at every queer night, the love songs, and a few that are just very funny. Some are by lesbian artists, some by bi and queer artists, and a couple are songs the community simply adopted and never gave back. Updated November 2026.
Skip to:
- Classic lesbian anthems
- New lesbian songs
- Lesbian love songs
- Empowering lesbian songs
- Funny lesbian songs
- UK artists to have on your radar
- Where to find more lesbian music
Classic lesbian anthems
The songs that soundtracked every lesbian bar, house party and bedroom singalong long before streaming playlists did the work for us.
1. “Constant Craving” – k.d. lang
Released in 1992, the same year k.d. lang came out publicly, and still the gold standard. That voice could make a shopping list sound like a love letter.
2. “Come to My Window” – Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge came out in 1993 and released this the same year on the album “Yes I Am”. Yearning, raspy, enormous. Put it on and scream it in the car.
3. “Closer to Fine” – Indigo Girls
The folk-rock duo’s 1989 hit is a rite of passage. If you’ve been to a queer campfire, festival or wedding, you’ve heard a field of women harmonising on the chorus.
4. “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover” – Sophie B. Hawkins
A 1992 single about wanting someone you can’t have. Sapphic longing at its most dramatic, and a staple of every 90s-themed queer night.
Article continues below.
5. “Fast Car” – Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman has always kept her private life private, and the song isn’t explicitly about a woman. But queer women claimed this 1988 classic decades ago and have no plans to hand it back.
6. “I Kissed a Girl” – Jill Sobule
Not that one. Jill Sobule’s 1995 song came 13 years before Katy Perry’s and is the far more charming of the two – two women ditching their boyfriends for each other, with tongue firmly in cheek.
7. “All the Things She Said” – t.A.T.u.
Don’t pretend you didn’t watch this video on repeat on MTV in 2002. The duo later admitted the lesbian image was a marketing gimmick, but the song itself? An undeniable banger.
8. “I Kissed a Girl” – Katy Perry
Yes, it’s problematic in places, and yes, Katy Perry isn’t one of us. But in 2008 this was the most mainstream song about kissing a girl many of us had ever heard, and it still fills a dancefloor.
You may also like: Lesbian singers: our legend list
New lesbian songs
The last decade has been a gift. These are the songs you’ll hear at every queer night going, mostly by artists who are completely open about who they love.
9. “Girls Like Girls” – Hayley Kiyoko
The 2015 song (and video) that earned Hayley Kiyoko the nickname “Lesbian Jesus”. Still one of the most direct lesbian pop songs ever made.
10. “Curious” – Hayley Kiyoko
For anyone who has watched the girl they like go home with a boy and wondered if she’s actually happy. Petty, catchy and very relatable.
11. “Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappell Roan
A 2024 song for the girl who’s trying very hard to convince herself she’s straight. Chappell Roan turned sapphic heartbreak into a stadium singalong.
12. “Pink Pony Club” – Chappell Roan
First released in 2020, finally a hit years later. A small-town girl finding herself at a queer club in LA – and the closest thing this generation has to a coming-out anthem. Read more in our piece on Chappell Roan.
13. “Lunch” – Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish’s 2024 single is about a girl, and not subtly. The community embraced it on day one and it has been on every sapphic playlist since.
14. “Pretty Girls” – Reneé Rapp
Reneé Rapp is openly queer and her songs make no effort to hide it. This one is about the specific mess of falling for a girl who keeps insisting she’s straight.
15. “We Fell in Love in October” – girl in red
Yes, it’s a lesbian song. Norwegian artist girl in red released it in 2018 and it became so associated with queer women that “do you listen to girl in red?” turned into a coded way of asking if someone’s gay.
16. “1950” – King Princess
King Princess’s 2018 breakout was inspired by Patricia Highsmith’s “The Price of Salt” (the novel behind “Carol”). Yearning, but make it slow-burn.
17. “Silk Chiffon” – MUNA feat. Phoebe Bridgers
A 2021 song about being happy and gay, which is rarer than it should be. Light, sunny, and perfect for a summer playlist.
18. “Bags” – Clairo
Clairo is bisexual, and this soft, anxious song about not knowing whether a friend feels the same way is a quiet favourite on sapphic playlists.
19. “Make Me Feel” – Janelle Monáe
From the 2018 album “Dirty Computer”, a celebration of queer desire with a video every bisexual has watched at least ten times.
20. “Enjoy Your Life” – Romy
Romy Madley Croft of The xx went solo with 2023’s “Mid Air”, a dance album that writes openly about women. Joyful, euphoric and built for a sweaty queer club at 2am.
21. “Ooouuu” – Young M.A
Openly lesbian rapper Young M.A went viral with this in 2016. Confident, explicit and still a guaranteed reaction when it drops. More in our lesbian rapper list.
You may also like: The best lesbian and sapphic films of all time
Lesbian love songs
For date night, the first dance, or crying over her on the night bus.
22. “Closer” – Tegan and Sara
The twins have been making queer music for over two decades, and this is the one everyone knows. It captures the giddy, can’t-sit-still feeling of a new crush perfectly.
23. “She Keeps Me Warm” – Mary Lambert
Built out of her hook on Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’s “Same Love”, this is a tender, sincere love song to a woman. First-dance material.
24. “Honey” – Kehlani
Kehlani, who uses she/they pronouns, came out as a lesbian in 2021 after previously identifying as queer. “Honey” is a stripped-back guitar love song and one of the sweetest sapphic tracks in R&B.
25. “i wanna be your girlfriend” – girl in red
Does exactly what the title says. Lo-fi, earnest and the soundtrack to a thousand teenage crushes.
26. “Touch” – Shura
Shura, a British lesbian singer-songwriter and producer, broke through with this dreamy synth-pop song in 2014. Intimate and slightly heartbreaking.
27. “Cliff’s Edge” – Hayley Kiyoko
An electro-pop track about the anxiety of a new relationship that might not last. Underrated next to her bigger hits.
28. “Casual” – Chappell Roan
Not a love song so much as a situationship song, which is arguably more relatable. For anyone who’s been told “it’s not that deep” by someone who definitely made it deep.
Empowering lesbian songs
Confidence, chosen family and turning it up loud enough for the neighbours to hear.
29. “Rebel Girl” – Bikini Kill
The riot grrrl anthem from 1993. A song about admiring the coolest girl in the neighbourhood that has been read as queer since day one.
30. “girls” – girl in red
An early girl in red track that simply says she likes girls and is fine with it. Short, defiant and a great one to send a friend who’s just come out.
31. “Chosen Family” – Rina Sawayama
A ballad for the friends who became your family. Bring tissues.
32. “Jungle” – Tash Sultana
Australian multi-instrumentalist Tash Sultana, who uses they/them pronouns, went viral with a home-recorded loop of this in 2016. We saw them at Brixton Academy in 2017, when they told any homophobes in the crowd to leave. Legend.
33. “Only a Girl” – Gia Woods
Iranian-American singer Gia Woods’s 2015 debut single is a bold, unapologetic pop song about liking girls.
Funny lesbian songs
Not every lesbian song needs to make you cry. These are the cheeky, camp and frankly ridiculous ones.
34. “Lesbian Seagull” – Engelbert Humperdinck
Yes, really. The crooner recorded this earnest ballad about a lesbian seagull for the 1996 film “Beavis and Butt-Head Do America”. It is entirely sincere, which is what makes it so funny.
35. “Boyfriend” – Dove Cameron
The 2022 TikTok hit where Dove Cameron, who is openly queer, explains she’d make a better boyfriend than the man you’re with. Smug in the best way.
36. “Boyfriend” – Tegan and Sara
Same title, different energy. A song about being treated like a boyfriend by a girl who won’t call it a relationship. Painfully accurate.
37. “Becky’s So Hot” – Fletcher
Openly lesbian singer Fletcher wrote a song about her ex’s new girlfriend. And called it this. The messiest release of 2022 and we loved every second.
38. “HOT TO GO!” – Chappell Roan
Camp, cheerleader-chant pop with its own dance. If you’ve been to a queer night since 2024 you’ve done the arms. No shame.
39. “Pussy Is God” – King Princess
The title does a lot of the work here. Cheeky, sincere and very, very gay.
40. “She Calls Me Daddy” – King Mala
A playful, flirty bop that went viral with queer women for obvious reasons.
Bonus: look up Lesbians on Ecstasy, the Montreal band who remixed lesbian folk classics into electro. The name alone earns them a spot.
UK artists to have on your radar
Some of our favourite queer artists are closer to home. A few we’ve interviewed over the years, all worth a deep dive:
- Lucy Spraggan – the singer-songwriter who first won the UK over on The X Factor in 2012 and has been open about being a lesbian ever since.
- Chelcee Grimes – footballer, presenter and a songwriter for the likes of Kylie Minogue, who also makes her own music.
- Heather Peace – yes, Sam from Lip Service. She’s a singer-songwriter too.
- Arlo Parks – the London-born, bisexual poet and singer whose introspective songs have picked up a Mercury Prize.
- Lava La Rue – a London artist who identifies as a non-binary lesbian, making queer indie pop with real style.
Where to find more lesbian music
Start with our Spotify playlist, which we keep adding to. After that, follow the artists above, go to their gigs and buy the merch – that’s what keeps queer musicians making music. We also interview queer artists regularly, so sign up to our emails to hear about them first.
Got a lesbian song we’ve missed? Tell us and we’ll add it.
Enjoy,
Nonchalant x
Your next read: The best lesbian podcasts
This article was written by one of our creative team writers here at Nonchalant Magazine.
