After a troubled life in the closet, legendary artist Billy Preston finally gets his flowers in new doc - Queerty

"In recent years, it feels like a new sub-genre of the celebrity documentary has emerged, one that looks back on the lives and legacies of late icons while also attempting to re-contextualizing them through a modern understanding of the one thing they never spoke about publicly: their sexuality. And to be honest, it's a difficult line to toe: queerness is a reflection of one's own identity, so what can a nonfiction film really tell us about someone without them there to speak up for themselves?"

"And now there's Billy Preston: That's The Way God Planned It, a doc about the late, great multi-hyphenate musician from out, gay filmmaker Paris Barclay, which was nearly blocked from release after a lawsuit alleged it was a "salacious, posthumous 'outing'" of the legendary performer. Preston, of course, is an American singer-songwriter whose celebrated work bridged gaps between rock, R&B, soul and gospel. Born in Houston in 1946, it was pretty quickly discovered he was a musical prodigy, and he went on to establish himself as a keyboardist accompanying many of the greats, from Ray Charles to Aretha Franklin to The Rolling Stones. He also worked closely with The Beatles for a number of years, and is one of the few artists to receive credit on one of their songs (1969's "Get Back"), often"

Recent celebrity documentaries revisit late icons' lives while reinterpreting their legacies through the lens of unspoken sexualities. Some films include testimonials from close friends and collaborators and leave conclusions to audiences, as seen with Luther: Never Too Much and Little Richard: I Am Everything. Other projects rely on intimate final interviews, such as Pee-wee as Himself, where Paul Reubens addressed his sexuality directly while resisting the queer icon label. The Billy Preston documentary, directed by out gay filmmaker Paris Barclay, faced a lawsuit alleging a salacious posthumous outing. Billy Preston was a Houston-born musical prodigy who bridged rock, R&B, soul and gospel and accompanied stars like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles, receiving credit on "Get Back".

Read at Queerty