#BlackStarPower - Billy Porter Joined The Day With Trae to Talk About His Journey and Upcoming Tour

Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award winning performer Billy Porter sat down with Trae Holiday on The Day With Trae to share his passion for music as he spoke about what he wants the audience to feel during his upcoming Black Mona Lisa tour, kicking off in Seattle April 29th as well as his journey as an actor and singer.

“The Black Mona Lisa Tour will be a celebration of life of love, of hope, of joy, of peace. My goal is to give the world a big bear hug, and start the process of healing,” Porter said.

Porter spoke about the effects the pandemic had not only on him but the effects he’s seen on the communities around him as well. Through his tour, he hopes to provide a collective outlet of joy.

“We've been in a horrible, horrible, collective trauma for the last few years, we're still in the middle of it. We're not okay. Nobody's okay. And that's okay. I'm trying to come to minister to people and be a part of the solution,” Porter said. “Music is the universal language.”

The tour and subsequent album release, which will take place in early fall, are a return to a dream for Porter, who has risen to fame through various performing arts but primarily on the stage.

“One of my big dreams as a child was to be the next Whitney Houston,” Porter said. “I released my first R&B/Soul album in 1997, but the industry was very homophobic at that time, so it didn't work out so well for me. Now, I get another chance in this mainstream music industry space but this time on my own terms.”

For Porter, the rise to fame as an actor didn’t always allow him to blossom as a singer. He told Trae that even when we would land roles where he got to sing, commenters were always surprised by his ability. Now, he’s excited to show the world that he’s more than ‘an actor who can sing’.

“What I'm working on now is the recording artist persona, that I am a real mainstream recording artists and I get to now come up with the tour and show that,” Porter said.

Porter also touched on his ascent to fame as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and what it means to him to be able to be a role model to those who look up to him.

“I was told that my queerness would be my liability, from allies and haters alike, and it was, for decades,” Porter said. “Now it's not. It's my superpower. My hope is that when people experience the journey, and how I set myself free through choosing myself and my own authenticity, that they can get set free too.”

You can watch the full interview from The Day With Trae above, and make sure you tune in every weekday from 11 to 11:30 am.

To enter to win tickets to see Billy Porter at The Paramount on April 29th, click here

If you’d like to purchase tickets, use discount code DANCER for 20% off - you can purchase those here