the Forever queen of disco

In honor of Pride and Black Music Month we’re celebrating some of our favorite Black LGBTQIA+ musicians. First up: SYLVESTER! At Bean Bar, we love the Queen of Disco so much, we named our Sumatra dark roast beans after his 1978 BOP, “Dance (Disco Heat).”

Sylvester was raised in the South LA neighborhood of Watts but became a star in San Francisco. His voice hit the highest highs and the lowest lows and inspired an equally-broad range of emotions in his fans. Sylvester’s music can make you dance with reckless abandon, or sob in the fetal position.

In addition to “Dance (Disco Heat),” Sylvester was known for hits like “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), and “Do Ya Wanna Funk.” Personally, we’re big fans of his 1979 live album, *Living Proof.*

Like far too many of his peers, Sylvester succumbed to AIDS-related complications in 1988 when he was just 41-years-old. His legacy lives on in the generations of artists for whom he paved the way, and in every one of us, every time we wanna funk.