Archbishop And Former Motown Recording Artist Carl Bean Dies At 77
He was known for the hit song “I Was Born This Way.”
Activist, former Motown recording artist and Archbishop Carl Bean has died at 77 years old, according to the LA Sentinel.
Bean founded the Minority AIDS Project in 1985. In 1982, he established Unity Fellowship Church, one of the first Black churches for the LGBTQ community.
The Baltimore native signed to Motown in the 1970s and was openly in gay during a time when it was rare for a Black male artist to be unapologetically so. In 1977, he released his version of the classic “I Was Born This Way,” which would become an anthem for the LGBTQ movement.
Carl Bean’s cause of death is not known at this time.
