When Frankie Grande bounces into our Zoom meeting, he radiates enough energy to power a small city. The self-proclaimed “gayest person on Earth” is about to release his debut album and he’s turned all the way up — dimmers be damned. It’s a moment that’s been “brewing and churning and bubbling” for years, and now that it’s here, Grande is doing what he does best: going all in, unapologetically queer and completely unfiltered.
At 42, the performer and activist — who previously captured our attention on “Big Brother” in 2014, as the flamboyant Frankini on Nickelodeon, and through his advocacy work with GLAAD — has finally found his sound. Drawing from the icons who shaped his childhood dance parties — Madonna, Whitney Houston and Donna Summer — and his musical-theater background, Grande has crafted a collection of pure, resilience-building dance music with “Hotel Rock Bottom,” out today everywhere.
The album’s first two singles, “Rhythm of Love” and “Boys,” turn up the heat with unapologetic queerness — sweaty bodies, sexual energy — offering a bold invitation to celebrate the pleasures of queer joy. The accompanying videos, which he describes with unflinching honesty, function as both artistic expression and personal catharsis, revisiting scenes from his wilder, pre-sobriety days through the freer, more grounded perspective of who he is now.
During this current Pride season, as conservatives continue their legislative assault on LGBTQ+ rights, Grande sees his album as more than entertainment — it’s activism on the dance floor. During our conversation, Grande opens up about sister Ariana’s emotional reaction to his music, his surprising journey from EP to major-label signing, and why he believes supporting the trans community should be every gay man’s priority this Pride season.
Congratulations on your debut album! How long has this been in the making?
It is really surreal to be talking about it, and I guess this has been brewing and churning and bubbling under the surface for many, many years. I think once the button was pressed, everything poured out of me. This album wrote itself almost, and so quickly, and it was because I had all these stories under the surface that I have been telling through moments on social media or working toward a novel one day and writing in my journal and talking at sober meetings in order to share my experience, strength and hope. And then all of a sudden there was this new medium available to me, which was music, which I just never ever gave the opportunity that it deserved, I guess. So as soon as I started writing, the whole album fell out of my mouth fully developed — JK! — but it was really exciting and I’m really happy it’s happening.
What’s the earliest memory of you wanting to create music?
My mother really just had me dancing around the living room when I was a little boy. She was a single mom. [My parents] got divorced when I was 2 years old. And so it was really just me and my mom. And she loved Madonna, she loved Whitney, she loved Donna Summer. She loved Barbra Streisand. And so as I was growing up, it was a dance party 24/7 in mommy’s bedroom, and I remember spinning the “Speed of Sound” and Donna Summer’s “MacArthur’s Park” and “No More Tears.” And then of course, once I got my hands on Madonna’s “Immaculate Collection,” it was over, honey. So I think in that moment I was like, “Maybe this is something that I can do one day.”
Were these pop inspirations on your mind as you were working on this album?
Absolutely. I pull from ’70s, ’80s and ’90s throughout the album sonically, but then vocally, there’s a lot of Madonna influence on there, but there’s also a tremendous amount of David Bowie. He was my North Star growing up. When I saw him in “Labyrinth” as the Goblin King, I was like, “What the fuck is that? And how do I become that immediately? That’s me.”
“As the world falls down, falling…” — I just wanted to be David Bowie so badly. And George Michael, another huge, huge influence in my life growing up. My mom loves George Michael, so he was on my screen constantly. And so vocally, I wanted to also capture that unique male tone that raised me that you don’t necessarily hear so much these days on the radio. The biggest hurdle for me was figuring out what my sound is going to be on a record coming from musical-theater training, coming from these heavy ’80s male rock influences. How do I do that on a dance-pop record in 2025? And we got there, and I’m very proud of it. But it was a journey. It was an exciting one.
How did you get there? I know someone close to you — your younger sister Ariana — has made the transition from musical theater to pop and back again. Do you ever talk with her about how she navigates those shifts between genres?
Oh yeah. Ariana was my advisor throughout the entire process. It is so cool. Finally, we are speaking the exact same language. I mean, obviously there was musical theater and Broadway, and we’ve followed in each other’s footsteps throughout both of our careers on and off. But she’s the shepherd. I am learning directly from her, and it’s been just an incredible experience.
And finding my sound, I actually did on my own because I didn’t let her in on the process until I had something to share. And even then, I was terrified. I was so scared to play it for my sister just because, what if it sucked? Do you know what I’m saying? Come on. That would’ve been really horrible. I want to throw up just thinking about it. What if it was terrible? It wasn’t terrible. She started crying as soon as she heard the first song and immediately was like, “You need to keep going. This is remarkable and unbelievable and holy shit, and what a unique sound and perspective you have, and this needs to be out in the world.”
From that point moving forward, I sent her everything in real time, but I had almost an entire EP recorded by the time that she even heard it. And so what was that process like? It was basically just playing in the studio and figuring out what sounds good, with some coaching from producers and vocal coaches. Some of the best parts of me that I found was really dropping into a character inside the studio based on the song that I’m singing and using that character as a device to tell the story. I jump around my entire life in this album process. It’s not all being recorded from Frankie today. There’s some drunken, debaucherous Frankie from 20 years ago. And so dropping into that character in the studio really helped solidify the sound.
How far back to former Frankie are you taking us on this album?
Great question. The first song was called “I Don’t Remember It.” It was produced by Gregory Dillon, and it’s on an EP but not on the album. This was the EP that I ended up bringing to Republic, expecting them to be like, “Oh, there’s this queer indie label that we know. Go over there. We have a friend, we will set up a meeting.” But instead, they signed me on the spot, which was crazy. But we’ve recorded a whole new album since that EP, so hopefully songs from that will come out into the world.
But the first song is “I Don’t Remember It,” and that was my answer to “Heartstopper” season two, which actually had very few queer artists represented in their music. Season three, they completely fixed that, by the way. Season three was Troye Sivan’s entire album. So good job.
Obviously I wasn’t the only one having an issue when these two boys took to the dance floor for prom and they danced to Carly Rae Jepsen. Love Carly Rae Jepsen. [But the music] should be a huge homosexual. It should be like a big, cocksucking, faggot homosexual they should be dancing to. And I was happy to provide a service.
So I went into the studio and recorded a song for that moment. It’s like an ’80s gay prom song and there is a song on the album that I feel is perfect for that moment. I ended up recording a gay wedding song in my mind. It’s called “Bound to You,” and it has a play on…. maybe it’s bound to marriage, maybe it’s bound to you in leather daddy form. But regardless, it’s a song about my marriage.
The video for “Rhythm of Love” is unabashedly queer. Was it your idea to shoot this in a queer club and make out with a guy in the bathroom?
Of course. And if you think that is queer, wait till you see “Boys.” It is just fucking in the steam room. The premise of “Boys” is, I’m going to the gym, but then I see a hot man played by Laith Ashley, and I decide to skip the gym and go straight to the steam room. So anyway, I’ve never been in better shape. I’ve never been more naked. I am so excited for you to see “Boys.” But yes, let’s go back to the beginning. The beginning of time, “Rhythm of Love,” my debut single where I really wanted to be unapologetically queer. I’m on the board of GLAAD, and I think that the unique position that I find myself in is, I am already the gayest person in media. I’m not having a conversation with myself about, “Ooh, how gay do I want to be as a recording artist?” I am already the gayest person on Earth. So now I get to be the gayest person in music.
That is so important right now for our LGBTQ+ community to have unabashedly, homosexual, free, sexually liberated human beings for them to look up to. And this is my time, this is my moment. This is why I did it. This is why I was like, “I want the beginning of ‘Rhythm of Love’ to be me going down on a man in a bathroom stall at The Box [in New York City].” Also, because that was me for many, many, many years. He actually represents drugs in the music video. So the way that I was using drugs in that bathroom stall, that exact bathroom stall actually, but I wanted it to be more universal.
So we decided to use obsession over a relationship, obsession over that guy that you just met at the bar who you don’t give a shit about, but you’re out with your friends. But the whole time you’re still thinking, “Where is that guy? What is he doing? Is he with somebody else? Should I go back to the bathroom?” And it’s like, “Bitch, just enjoy your fucking friends. Just have a good night.” But my obsession with men, with drinking, with using was so strong that I lost the ability to do that, even though I knew that there was a community around me that was so beautiful and loving. And so that’s the story of “Rhythm of Love.” I’m up on the stage with my best friends who I was in “Mamma Mia!” with; there’s actual people in that video who were with me during that time.
And you’re in the bathroom at the club you used to frequent?
Yeah, that’s where I drank and did all my drinking and using and fucking when I was in the clubs.
You’ve changed a lot since, so how did it feel to return to a place as a different person?
So in that space, since I have gotten sober, I’ve gotten married at The Box. I shot galas for GLAAD and had parties there in sobriety. So coming back for this music video was really beautiful and full circle. Also dropping into that character of who I used to be, but then getting the director to say cut and then being me again, oh, how powerful. How liberating to not be controlled by drugs and alcohol, but still get to have that kind of fun. And that also spills into the “Boys” music video. I am just fully getting triple penetrated in a steam room. And then the director says cut. And I’m back to being a married man with a puppy. It’s cool. It’s liberating. It’s cathartic. Life imitates art. And then I get to tell the story to the world of a time in my life that I’m no longer in.
Pride is heavy this year, given the current federal administration’s attacks on LGBTQ+ people. How’re you feeling as you prepare to perform at several Pride events?
Going back to that point of me being the gayest person on Earth — us just existing right now is a form of protest. But luckily, I also am an activist. So I would say the reason that this Pride is more important than ever is for our trans siblings. The whole thing, everything for me, even this launch, is just to make sure that the trans community also feels loved and represented and wrapped in our rainbow. All of the colors of the rainbow are especially referred to the trans community now, during this time. I think there’s still a big group of gay — I’m a gay man, so I’ll speak for gay men — who feel like, “That’s their problem, and it’s not my problem.” And that’s not true. If anything happens to the trans community, it is our problem. It is gay men’s problem. We need to fight for them.
So that’s going to be my message throughout this Pride. And the reason why I’m so excited to release this album is because in my life when the community has been under attack, I’ve always run to the dance floor. And that is not going to change. I feel like the dance floor is our safe place. It is where we come together as a community. It’s where we fucking recharge, which we need to do so that we can go back into battle, which we need to do.
Given your platform and the importance of visibility, why do you think the character Frankini on Nickelodeon’s “Henry Danger,” and then the movie released earlier this year, has been a significant step forward for representation on the network?
I mean, it was the best thing ever. Frankini is 8 years old now, maybe 9 at this point. And so that amount of representation on TV back then is just crazy for live-action children programming. To my knowledge, it is the first. For a long time, it was the only. I don’t know of any other live-action queer characters on kids programming, but I hope there are more. I really do. And it was such an honor to get to play him and also get little boys coming up to me in theme parks being like, “I get to wear nail polish because Frankini wears nail polish.” I’m like, “I’ll throw myself off this ride. I’m so emotional.” But yeah, it was just a huge gift and a gift that keeps on giving. I was so lucky I got to play him in the movie, and he got to make gay jokes. It was fun.
Another seminal moment for you and representation was you just being yourself on “Big Brother.” How do you reflect on that chapter now?
I was a badass, man. It was so fucking cool to be, again, the gayest person on Earth and the one that everyone feared and the one that everyone was scared is going to win the show, is going to win every competition. “You can’t beat him. He’s unbeatable” I was beaten, but it was just because Derek was a fucking undercover cop. But you know what I’m saying? It was really cool to be the gayest person and also the most feared on a very difficult reality TV competition.
I was actually sprinting in Barry’s boot camp, and have you ever been to Barry’s? You’re right in front of the mirror and you’re just staring into your fucking soul and you’re like sprinting at 12 mph, and you’re like, “I can go faster.” And I literally looked at myself in the mirror and I said, “You are one of the greatest competitors that has ever competed on ‘Big Brother.’” I gagged myself. And then I was like, “Faster.” So do whatever you need to do to motivate yourself. But yeah, no, I’m fucking incredible.
What’s one moment in your activism over the years that you’re especially proud of?
I’m very proud of this new chapter with GLAAD, where I partnered with Peppermint to pen a letter to the reality TV industry. I’m demanding that they have more fair and inclusive casting for the LGBTQ+ community because we’re still in a place of tokenism on shows like “Big Brother” and even “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race.” “Traitors” is doing much better recently, but we want even more.
Having one letter in the rainbow on one season is not OK. You can’t be like, “Oh, we hit our LGBTQ+ quota with this one cast member.” You can’t do that. So do better. And I’m proud that I’ve shone a light on this, because I don’t think people think about it, to be honest. They’re like, “No, there’s that gay guy. The gay guy’s on it.” Let’s put four gay men on a fucking single season. And a trans woman and a lesbian. You know what? Maybe it’s OK to show two men making out in the “Big Brother” house. Maybe that’s what we need. Maybe we need the next marriage out of “Big Brother” to be a homosexual one. I’m ready.
