Big Freedia is taking the Outside Lands stage this weekend with more than just bounce music and bops — she’s bringing a message of hope, healing, and pure joy.
Just ahead of her double-header at the festival — including a special main stage appearance with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus — the Queen of Bounce dropped her most personal and powerful project yet: a gospel album titled Pressing On.
The new record is a soulful departure from the high-energy club anthems fans may know her for. Instead, Pressing On taps into Freedia’s church roots, delivering tracks filled with spirituality, celebration, and love — without judgment.
“I come from the gospel world,” Freedia told Gayety in a pre-festival interview. “I’m a church baby, and God put it on my heart to put out this gospel album. We’re representing and making people realize there’s so much to celebrate in life right now.”
Freedia, who has always embraced her identity loudly and unapologetically, says this album is for everyone — Black, white, gay, straight, devout, questioning, or anything in between. “This album is inclusive,” she said. “It’s for all of the people. I wanted to make something pure and from the heart, with no judgment — just love and God all over it.”
The album features collaborations with longtime friends and artists she personally reached out to, including queer gospel icon Billy Porter. “Everyone I called was like, ‘Oh my God, you’re doing gospel?’ And I was like, ‘Yes.’ And they were like, ‘I’m down.’”
Freedia’s message is simple: connect with whatever higher power feels right for you. “A lot of people feel like they don’t have a relationship with a church or congregation, but this album gives them the opportunity to get their connection back with God,” she said. “You don’t need a building. You need a personal relationship.”
The album’s title track, “Pressing On,” stands as a mantra for Freedia — and for the moment. “With the state of the world we live in, everybody just has to keep on pressing on,” she said. “Everything else will be all right.”
And while Pressing On may center God, it also centers joy — something Freedia continues to spread onstage, whether in intimate clubs or at major festivals around the world. “I’m going to festivals all around the world and bringing joy to people,” she said. “And it’s such a great feeling to bring a little bit of New Orleans with me everywhere I go.”
That energy will undoubtedly fill San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park this weekend, where Freedia performs both at the more intimate Dolores Stage and, in a full-circle moment, with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus on the main stage.
Whether you’re religious, spiritual, or simply vibing, Big Freedia wants Pressing On to be a source of comfort and connection.
So what does she hope listeners walk away with?
“A little more love in their heart,” she said. “And the strength to keep going.”
As Big Freedia celebrates the release of her deeply personal gospel album Pressing On, her journey is marked not only by spiritual growth, but also by profound grief.
Just months before taking the stage at Outside Lands, Freedia lost her partner of 20 years, Devon Hurst, who passed away in May at age 38 due to complications from diabetes. In a heartfelt social media post, Freedia described the loss as devastating, writing, “He passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family… He will be deeply missed by everyone in this community who knew him and loved him.”
Hurst was more than a partner — he was Freedia’s anchor. Their two-decade relationship was built on love, trust, and mutual respect, a constant throughout the highs and lows of Freedia’s rise to fame. His death, she shared, has left an irreplaceable void.
Freedia says this new album — a return to her gospel roots — is not only a celebration of faith, but a reminder to cherish life and love while we have it. “Pressing On is about resilience,” she said. “It’s about moving forward, even when the pain feels impossible.”
In both her music and her mourning, Freedia continues to show the strength of her spirit — and the power of love to endure.
