This, briefly and without doing him justice, is the sad tale of Jobriath: Bruce Campbell was born in Pennsylvania in 1946. After getting drafted, he went AWOL, but was arrested and put into a psychiatric hospital. When he got out, he moved to LA, changed his name to Jobriath and started a band. He announced that he was gay and got signed to a huge record deal by David Geffen's Elektra Records who -- with much fanfare and promotional hype -- released two albums that both stiffed. By 1975 he had retired and moved into the penthouse apartment on top of the Chelsea Hotel. On August 3, 1983, he died of AIDS. Today's oldie-but-goodie was his first public performance, on a TV show called The Midnight Special, in 1974. A documentary called Jobriath A.D. by Kieran Turner screens from May 3rd to the 8th at the reRun Theater (147 Front Street, Brooklyn).
This, briefly and without doing him justice, is the sad tale of Jobriath: Bruce Campbell was born in Pennsylvania in 1946. After getting drafted, he went AWOL, but was arrested and put into a psychiatric hospital. When he got out, he moved to LA, changed his name to Jobriath and started a band. He announced that he was gay and got signed to a huge record deal by David Geffen's Elektra Records who -- with much fanfare and promotional hype -- released two albums that both stiffed. By 1975 he had retired and moved into the penthouse apartment on top of the Chelsea Hotel. On August 3, 1983, he died of AIDS. Today's oldie-but-goodie was his first public performance, on a TV show called The Midnight Special, in 1974. A documentary called Jobriath A.D. by Kieran Turner screens from May 3rd to the 8th at the reRun Theater (147 Front Street, Brooklyn).