G-A-Y

BANG exploded onto London's Gay scene in 1976 at the Sundown club in the basement of the London Astoria. It was founded by Jerry Collins and Jack Barrie; Jerry worked at the Marquee Studio and Jack was the manager of the Marquee Club in Wardour Street.[1] Jack was the door host and Jerry DJ'd under the alias Gary London, along with Tallulah (DJ) and Norman Scott. In the early 1990s, BANG was acquired by Jeremy Joseph, who changed the clubs name to G-A-Y. G-A-Y operated from the London Astoria for 15 years until July 2008. The Boston Globe described it as "London's largest gay-themed club night",[2] NME reported that it "attracts 6,000 clubbers each week",[3] and The Independent described it as "the one London gig that really matters" for "today's pop stars".[4]

G-A-Y is associated with G-A-Y Bar and G-A-Y Late. A major stake in the brand was bought on 13 August 2007 by the MAMA Group.[5] On Friday 3 October 2008, G-A-Y moved to the famous gay venue Heaven, which MAMA Group had acquired a few weeks earlier on 22 September 2008.[6]

Mama was sold to HMV & when they went into Receivership, Jeremy Joseph bought out HMV to claim sole ownership & now own G-A-Y Bar, G-A-Y Late & Heaven & since started up their own charity G-A-Y Foundation which has nearly raised £1m over 13 London Marathons

In 2000, a 40 track compilation album was released, featuring songs from some of the artists who had appeared at G-A-Y. A promotional campaign took place in the weeks leading up to release, including television and radio advertisements, a nationwide poster campaign and magazine advertisements in both the gay and teen press.

On Saturday 1 July 2000, a show was held at G-A-Y to promote the release of the album. Seven acts who appeared on the album performed. These acts were Shola Ama, All Saints, Bananarama, Dina Carroll, Billie Piper, Honeyz and Louise. Each act performed only one song, apart from Louise, who also performed her new single "2 Faced".

The G-A-Y album was released on Monday 3 July 2000 and peaked at number 18 in the UK compilations chart.

The G-A-Y brand has expanded to two other bars in the same area: G-A-Y Late (located near the former Astoria site) and G-A-Y bar (located nearby in Soho's Old Compton Street). In April 2011, the G-A-Y brand arrived in Manchester's Canal Street gay village, with a G-A-Y bar opening in the former venue of Spirit Bar.[7] On October 28th 2021 Jeremy Joseph announced that G-A-Y Manchester would be sold to Lee Kellow as a G-A-Y franchise. Jeremy Joseph remains the owner of G-A-Y Bar, G-A-Y Late & Heaven.[8]

In 2011, owner Jeremy Joseph tweeted that straight people were not welcome to a One Direction gig, stating: "My birthday wish is for little girls to realise that G-A-Y is a lesbian and gay club so there's only one direction and that's no direction for them".[9]

In 2016, Joseph was also accused of racism after blaming a rise in crime in Soho on "Somalians";[10] this led to criticism from Black and South Asian LGBT groups.[11][12]

In March 2019, staff refused comedian Rosie Jones, who has cerebral palsy, entry into one of the G-A-Y nightclubs after they believed she was drunk. Joseph later apologised on Twitter.[13]

Saturday nights at G-A-Y/Heaven have seen many performances from a wide selection of artists and genres. Acts who have appeared at G-A-Y include:

• Anastacia[14]
• B*Witched[15]
• Britney Spears[16]
• Ellie Goulding[17]
• Enrique Iglesias[18]
• Lady Gaga[19]
• Leona Lewis[20]
• Madonna[21]
• Marina and the Diamonds[22]
• McFly[23][24]
• Olly Murs[25]
• One Direction[26]
• The Human League[27]

• Heaven (nightclub)
• London Astoria

• G-A-Y website