Openly-gay pop singer, Holly Johnson, came to fame as the frontman of the mid-1980s British dance band, Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH). After their single, "Relax," was banned by the BBC, the band received such phenomenal and instant success that they were described as "bigger than the Beatles." Most of this largesse was due to the antics of Johnson, the outrageous and out Queen who founded FGTH, came up with the band's name, and wrote and sang the lyrics of "Relax" and other chart-topping FGTH singles like "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love." By 1985, Johnson -- with his handsome blue-eyed poster-boy looks -- had become "the most photographed Queen in England." In his 1994 autobiography, A Bone in My Flute, Johnson candidly discussed his rise from humble Liverpool beginnings to global superstardom, while unequivocally speaking out against homophobia and revealing his HIV+ status. Today a successful painter as well as a musician, Johnson has an official website, www.pleasuredome.co.uk, that contains examples of his vivid artwork and info on his most recent recordings.

With Leo Rising, Holly Johnson has been affected in big ways by the imagery and traits of the astrological sign of the Lion. Born William "Billy" Johnson with a Leonine mane of dark auburn curly hair, this creative and fun-loving individual expresses all that's typical of a person with a Leo Ascendant, even if his Aquarian Sun has led him to do so in atypical ways. Those with Leo-rising are born to be, have, and make fun, and so the debut album for FGTH was called Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Johnson today even uses the Pleasuredome title for his own label and as a trademark for his website.

Johnson originally made his visual mark in the video clip for "Relax" which includes extraordinary shots of him being pounced upon by what seems to be an uncaged live lion. "The lion was a cub called Tessa who appears small on the acreen, but in reality she was about four feet long, heavy and with large teeth" (Holly Johnson, A Bone in My Flute, 166). At this time Johnson's Leo Ascendant was aspected by a daring quincunx from its ruler, his progressed Sun (at 12° Pisces) which had reached the cusp of his 8th House (which is associated with cages and sexuality). Meanwhile, his Leo Ascendant had progressed to 5° Virgo, thus forming a conjunction with natal Pluto, the sexy ruler of musical Neptune that, in turn, rules the sign Pisces that contained his progressed Sun.

Encounters with other Leo-rising stars such as Elton John and Andy Warhol (whose Leo Sun/Ascendant conjoins his Ascendant) would also provide pivotal moments for Johnson. An early (musical, fashionable, famous and erotic) inspiration, David Bowie, has his triple Leo (Moon-Saturn-Pluto) conjunction on Johnson's Ascendant. Along with Warhol's Trash, the teenage Johnson was influenced by the homoerotic film Sebastiane by Derek Jarman whose Chiron (at 11° Leo) also touches upon Johnson's Ascendant degree. Equally amazingly, Jean Genet, a seminal influence on Johnson's poetry and paintings of sailors, has his Moon and Ascendant (both at 12° Leo) right on Holly's Ascendant.

Johnson's Leo Ascendant is ruled by the Sun in Aquarius in his 7th House. His Aquarian Sun makes him quirky and well, quite queer. As he has said, "Aquarians go out of their way to appear different and unusual" (Holly Johnson, A Bone in My Flute, p. 113). This is especially so in Johnson's case because he has his Aquarian Sun ruling his Leo Ascendant, also opposite, and in mutual reception with, his Uranus rising in Leo.

The 7th House is a Libran-like zone particularly associated with relating to other people, so when the Sun is located in this house this part of life is more enhanced. Long-term relationships seem to have especially influenced Johnson. After several long friendships and erotic attachments with other men (including some interesting threesomes and relationship triangles), he settled into a loving, domestic and business partnership with Wolfgang Kuhle in the mid 1980s and they have kept together ever since (along with their 'only child' -- Funky, the white poodle).

The Sun in the 7th House is also associated with beauty and fashion, balance, love and peace. In the fashion stakes, FGTH was the first group of the 1980s to wear designer (Katherine Hamnett, Vivienne Westwood) labels, and as the singer in the band Johnson was most conspicuous in this regard. The mid 1980s hit song, "Two Tribes," denounced warmongering.

My intentions when I wrote the lyric, inspired by Mad Max 2, had been to depict the threat of Armageddon between the two most powerful nations on Earth at that time, the USSR and the USA, fighting over the last oil fields. (Holly Johnson, A Bone in My Flute)

A 7th House Sun can also indicate major legal battles. In 1988, as Saturn progressed to his 7th Cusp, Johnson made legal history by winning a court decision that set him free from his unfair recording and publishing contracts. With progressed Saturn opposite his regal Leo Ascendant, ruled by the Sun in his 7th, a large part of the dispute was over 'royalties.'

Uranus/Aquarius and Sun/Leo are associated with the Atomic Age. As a reflection of the mutual reception between his Uranus and Sun, Johnson named his first solo album, Blast. This platinum record that reached number one in the UK charts in 1989 lead to the hit single, "Atomic City."

Holly's Sun is conjunct Chiron, a planetoid that is associated with transgenderism. No surprise then that Johnson traded in his boyish nickname "Billy" for the girly name "Holly" sometime in his early 20s (during the early 'swinging '70s').

    We would fantasise about exotic stage names we would use when we were famous
    -- which we believed was inevitable. 'Holly', after Holly Woodlawn, the Warhol
    superstar, or perhaps Holly Golightly, was one of my favourites. On that night,
    the name just stuck. The androgyny of it suited me and the zeitgeist perfectly.
    (Holly Johnson, A Bone in My Flute, p. 53)

"Relax," the song that began Johnson's world-wide fame as the frontman of FGTH, was of course about the joys of cocksucking, delayed ejaculation and orgasm.

   Relax don't do it
   When you want to suck to it
   Relax don't do it
   When you want to come
   Come-oh oh oh

In 1996, when his progressed Moon reached his natal Ascendant, Johnson held his first solo art exhibition, "The House of Holly," in London. He continues to paint nudes and other colourful artworks. Keith Haring and Andy Warhol have produced works with similar themes, and like them, Johnson has Neptune, the Sun and Leo prominent in his chart.

With Neptune in sexy Scorpio (at the base of his chart) in trine with his Moon in Cancer, watery themes seem to have had an especially profound influence on Johnson's creativity. Indeed, the Moon and Neptune in water signs have worked wonders. His homoerotic paintings (like the phallomorphic Sailor Joe) express an erotic association with water that draws back to the days when he first saw naked men in the changing rooms at a swimming pool. As he explains in A Bone in My Flute, there were "grown men walking round with no clothes on. My eyes were on stalks at these fit, tanned bodies, covered with pubic hair and wet from the showers." This inspiring experience excited him so much that he kept going back to see more and more! Aren't we glad he did!

Christie, Rose. "Holly Johnson." Attitude 1.1 (1994), pp. 74-?

Hattenstone, Simon. "I Will Survive." (interview). The Guardian 16 August 1999.

Holbrook, Calvin. "In-House." Fluid Jan/Feb? 2001, p. 79.

Holland, Jools. "At the Piano: Holly Johnson" BBC Online, ?.

"Holly Johnson" Knitting Circle: Popular Culture, 22 August 2000.

"Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes To Hollywood" (interview). Lexicon, no date.

Johnson, Holly. "A Bone in My Flute." London: Random House: 1994.

Smith, Richard. "Still Relaxed." Outrage May 1994: 24-27.

"Style File: Holly Johnson." Rage 12-25 September 1991.