Nashville Pride Celebrates Queer History — and Futures

Nashville Pride Fest kicked off for 2025 a day earlier than usual, with a sea of fans dressed for the steamy weather and a colorful weekend of partying — that’s to say, in as little as possible while covering all the important bits — packed into Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park for Friday’s concert. The grounds opened at 6 p.m., and the early crowd gathered around the stage as the night’s host, RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant The Princess, strutted out in a white sequined dress, hair adorned with a rainbow flag.

“I’ll be your cruise director on this ship through the rest of the evening,” she said. “Are y’all ready to party tonight?” She took command of the vibe and introduced performers on the festival’s Equality Main Stage, including Ahli, Empress Of and fellow Drag Race contestant Kylie Sonique Love. 

U.K. singer, MC and actress Estelle went on just after 8:30. While fresh off the release of Stay Alta, her first album since 2018’s Lovers Rock, she peppered her show with older songs like “Freak” and “Come Over.” There was also a sing-along with the theme song from Steven Universe, the much-loved animated series on which she played Garnet, the strong and silent member of The Crystal Gems. The set had moments when the audience got quiet and Estelle took a pause to encourage a show of energy, including taking her last song — her 2008 hit “American Boy” — from the top a second time to build the excitement. 

Headliner Kim Petras, a German-born pop artist and longtime Angeleno, made her return to Nashville Pride, following a rain-soaked set in 2021. Since that appearance, she became the first openly trans artist to win a Grammy when her Sam Smith duet “Unholy” won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2023. The crowd swelled as Petras took the stage just after 9:30, stepping out of a wooden box and diving into her 2017 debut single “I Don’t Want It at All.” They stayed amped throughout the two-hour performance.

Petras was adorned in black micro shorts and a blue polo shirt, aptly dressed to match her new single, “Polo,” which hit streaming Friday morning. Bright lights flashed and industrial fans blew her hair back as she crawled to the front of the stage during multiple numbers. “You want one more slutty one?” she asked, introducing a run of tunes from her 2022 LP Slut Pop. “Nashville, I fucking love you,” she said again and again.

As exemplified in Saturday’s performances, Nashville Pride 2025 was a celebration of queer history and a joyful look toward queer futures.

After the Drag EXTRAvaganza showcased Nashville’s drag community, The Kentucky Gentlemen took the Equality Main Stage. “I feel the love in here,” Derek Campbell told the audience, before the twins launched into the dreamy ballad “To the Moon.” Love also echoed as they recounted the real-life heart-to-heart from Brandon Campbell that inspired “Cheap Motel.” 

The twin brothers do country music their own way, and they do it well. They paid homage to country’s Black history with an interlude to the tune of “Georgia on My Mind,” leading into their own rousing queer anthem “Country on My Mind.” When they led the crowd in a call-and-response of “joy is revolutionary,” the energy was electric.

Up next was GAYLE, who brought pop-punk power to the stage with her viral TikTok hit “ABCDEFU.” In addition to her own compositions, she celebrated the legacy of women in rock music with an animated cover of Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” and got audiences into the Pride spirit with a mashup of “Born This Way” and “Pink Pony Club.”

Dragonette came onstage with a sci-fi introduction to the utopian concept of Revelation, her new album with production duo The Knocks. Supported by voguing office-siren backup dancers, the trio kicked things off with a 2010s throwback to Dragonette’s hit “Hello.”

Then, The Knocks moved into a dance mix that featured icons of the gay community past and present: Lipps, Inc.’s “Funky Town,” Aretha Franklin’s “R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” Troye Sivan’s “Rush.” A good DJ always has a surprise in store, and The Knocks certainly did when they revealed how hard “Like a Prayer” goes when it’s mixed with the horn section from “Call Me Al.”

The recently reunited 4 Non Blondes capped off the night, starting with a cover of “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin. It has been a long, lonely time since the Bay Area quartet rocked and rolled, and their Pride set mainly showcased new songs like “Monomorphic,” slated to appear on their long-awaited second album (whose title has not yet been announced). Linda Perry also shared gems from her storied career as a songwriter, like “Drama Queen,” which she originally wrote for Courtney Love. 

The comeback performance was a reminder of 4 Non Blondes’ winning balance between tough and tender. Perry brought her child onstage and spoke about the surprise joys of motherhood before a rendition of the band’s ’90s hit “What’s Up?” Then, they closed out the show with new song “Hollow” — a slow-burn scorcher that left us wanting more.

Julia Cannon’s distinctive and gorgeous voice wafting from the Equality Main Stage toward the end of her set was a great soundtrack to making our way into the park on Sunday. A stroll around the grounds offered a chance to hear Belle Gray at the Rainbow Stage as well as Anna Graves at Music City PrEP’s Pink Pony Club stage. Meanwhile, drag story time was happening in the Family Area and the cavalcade of drag performances continued at the Stonewall Stage.

Staking out a spot for Jake Wesley Rogers on the main stage, we had an opportunity to witness Nashville’s excellent Glam Squad drag crew at work. Missouri native Rogers doesn’t live in Nashville anymore, but he graduated from Belmont University and maintains connections in Nashville, including band members Emma Lambiase (bass and backing vocals) and Simon Knudtson (drums). Rogers is a dynamic pop performer and songwriter who just released his first full-length album In the Key of Love, and he included several Key of Love songs like “Hot Gospel” and “My Misery” in his show. His fellow singer-songwriter — and one of the grand marshal of this year’s Pride Parade — Joy Oladokun joined Rogers for “God Bless.” People frequently liken Rogers to Elton John, and playing keys and wearing glittery fringe may be commonalities, but the emotional sensitivity of Rogers’ music reminded us more of English songwriter Patrick Wolf. Rogers ended his set with the anthemic “Loser,” reminding the crowd that we still have a lot of work to do and not to lose hope.

If Rogers took us to a thoughtful kind of church, Big Freedia took us to a loud, vibrant and celebratory service. Days before the festival, Freedia announced a gospel album titled Church, and performed several songs from the partially Nashville-recorded album alongside Nashville in Harmony, the Music City chorus composed of LGBTQ members and allies. The crowd that gathered for Big Freedia was huge and enthusiastic, and more than ready to sing along, wave fans and arms in the air — and bounce as required. Besides the new gospel songs, Big Freedia’s set included audience favorites like “$100 Bill,” “You Already Know,” “N.O. Bounce,” her cover of Beyoncé’s “Formation,” her Pride anthem “Chasing Rainbows” and an extended version of “Betty Bussit” that required 20 volunteers from the audience to dance onstage. Is there any better way to close out a sweat-soaked Pride weekend?

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Your Guide to Pride 2025

• Scene Staff