After honing his craft on the road and as a supporting act for Panic! at the Disco, Kesha and other artists, Jake Wesley Rogers is taking center stage with a project he views as the journey of his lifetime.
The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter makes a confident bid for music stardom on his debut full-length album “In the Key of Love.” Released last week, the record finds the 28-year-old reflecting on his queer identity and his Christian upbringing against ebullient synth-pop and wistful piano melodies. Songs like “Mother, Mary, and Me,” “Kitchen Table,” and “Heaven in My Head” are thoughtful mediations on faith and mortality, while the propulsive single “Loser” is an underdog anthem that evokes Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga.”
Rogers is beloved by fans for his innate theatricality and sexy, glam-pop persona, prompting Vogue to deem him “Gen Z’s Elton John.” Listeners familiar with his four previous EPs won’t be surprised by the spiritual subtext of the new album; speaking with The Advocate in 2022, he cited Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” as an influence.
But as a gay man, Rogers says his goal is to be “a presence of love” for those who have come to view religion as a means of oppression toward the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups.
“I’m not a religious person, but the Christian lens is sort of embedded in me,” Rogers said. “It’s an extension of who I am, where I am and my curiosities as a human being. Also, it’s my belief that those who are disenfranchised, disempowered and oftentimes ridiculed by society are the ones who end up saving the day.”
He went on to note: “Religion does not belong to people in power. I think faith is richest in people who have very little. What lights me up is the possibility of reframing these stories to include the people they were actually meant to include. … I want nothing more than to be an instrument of peace and love in this world.”
Regardless of how “In the Key of Love” is received, Rogers views the album as a personal and professional triumph. The Ozark, Missouri, native got his first taste of mainstream recognition at age 15, when he was a contestant on “America’s Got Talent” in 2012. He was eliminated from the quarterfinal round, an experience he now describes as “devastating.”
“I loved singing, so it felt like a natural thing to do,” he recalled. “But there’s no care or regard for the lives that are being exploited. I realized it wasn’t about being an artist at all. Being an artist is about standing for something and having a message.”
In 2021, Rogers was signed to Facet Records, the Warner Bros.-distributed label founded by three-time Grammy nominee Justin Tranter, who has collaborated with Lady Gaga and Chappell Roan. He quickly released two EPs — 2021’s “Pluto” and 2022’s “LOVE” — on the label, but was forced to postpone work on “In the Key of Love” last year to undergo surgery for a ruptured intestine due to Crohn’s disease.
Ultimately, that health setback gave Rogers an impetus to “see how deep I could go” on the album. “There’s a great [David] Bowie quote about how the best creativity is when you’re swimming out past where your toes can’t touch anymore,” he said. “Maybe I went a little too far out, but I did swim back eventually.”
Though Rogers is light on specifics, he plans to support “In the Key of Love” with a headline tour he envisions as “more of a musical than a pop concert.” This summer, he’ll join Cyndi Lauper on the final leg of her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour, which hits Philadelphia, Denver and other cities before wrapping with two shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in August.
Given the current U.S. political climate, Rogers says he’s particularly eager to perform the plaintive ballad “God Bless” ― which includes the lyric: “God bless the trans kid in Texas” ― when the tour hits more conservative cities.
“Sometimes it takes just one person to change someone else’s fundamental beliefs,” he said. “As a white cis gay man, I’m very lucky to not be too worried [about my rights being rolled back] at this point. It’s our trans siblings who need the most support right now.”