Jade Esteban Estrada has been called “The most exciting Latin pop artist to ever emerge onto the music scene”, but Estrada is much more than just a pop star. Setting himself apart from his contemporaries as an actor, writer and singer Estrada has managed to morph himself into an entertainer who knows no boundaries and is willing to push himself above and beyond any labels that might try to confine him making himself arguably the most influential (if not the only) out gay Latin performer ever.
When I spoke with Estrada over the phone he was just arising from sleep at his home in Texas preparing to once more hit the road with his musical comedy act “ICONS: the Lesbian and Gay History of the World Volume Two” which has been greeted to much acclaim across the nation.
“I’ve been touring since I was nine,” Estrada quipped wistfully evidently trying to shake off the fog of sleep as we speak. Hailing from San Antonio Estrada, the son of a U.S. Army officer and a stage actress won a scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York and sharpened his knowledge of his chosen profession. Estrada studied dance (alongside Jennifer Lopez) with Slam, the lead dancer from Madonna's Blonde Ambition Tour among other notable teachers of the era. Since then, Estrada has managed to stick his foot in the door of nearly every aspect of the entertainment industry conceivable.
No stranger to Nashville, Estrada has performed his pop act at previous Nashville Pride events (back when the organization was still called OPEN) and most recently performed “ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World Volume One” at Club Blu for this year’s Nashville Pride Comedy Night. Estrada was so well received that he was invited back to perform ICONS 2 for the upcoming Bearapalooza.
With ICONS (Which incidentally is actually a trilogy of one-man shows) Estrada is on a mission to se the record straight about gay history.
“I get so tired of people thinking that gay history begins and ends with Judy Garland and Cher,” Estrada explained. “They are not gay historical figures. They may be iconic, but they aren’t gay. It drives me nuts!”
Indeed, both of the ICONS shows that have been staged thus far find Estrada donning the likenesses of such truly gay historical figures from Oscar Wilde to Billie Jean King, from Ellen DeGeneres to Alexander the Great and more in order that through comedy and music he can relate a true sense of history to gay and lesbian audiences.
“I love history and I love making people laugh,” said Estrada of ICONS. “I also love singing and dancing so I’ve sort of thrown all of these things into a pot and stirred it around and there was ICONS.”
Jade Esteban Estrada will be performing his one man musical comedy “ICONS: A Lesbian and Gay History of the World Volume Two” for Bearapalooza at Club Blu on Thursday, July 21 at 8 p.m. There will be a $15 cover charge,
For more information on Jade Esteban Estrada or his ICONS Trilogy please visit www.getjaded.com.
