Meet Bee Bee Riot: Brisbane’s Tartan Clad Bisexual Songtress

Chances are if you haven’t heard Brisbane singer Bee Bee Riot perform yet, you soon will. 2023 has been a huge year for this local Brisbane performer, with many great things still yet to come.

Originally from Kempsey in NSW, Bee Bee Riot began busking at the age of 14, and she hasn’t looked back since. “Mum would drop me off, and I would play for hours, I think that’s where my performing energy and stamina comes from,” she tells Star Observer.

‘A Tartan-Clad Bisexual Jack Black’

Now Bee Bee leads an almost double life; by day, she works as a children’s performer delivering energetic music to kindy kids across Brisbane; by night, “I become a tartan-clad bisexual Jack Black”, she laughs. It’s an apt description for the singer who doesn’t identify with a particular style of music, but who does, however, have an absolute powerhouse vocal ability that can bring the house down at any performance.

Grand Prize In The Wing of the Cloud Competition

Things really began to kick off for Bee Bee Riot in 2021 when she took out the grand prize in the Wing of the Cloud Competition, scoring herself a $10,000 prize along with the title. In 2023 the opportunities really began to start rolling in.

“This past year has been huge for me in Brisbane, it started when I entered alt.Brisbanes showdown and met so many amazing queer artists that genuinely got me. I had nothing to compare that feeling to, I was nervous, I felt seen and understood,” she explained.

From there Bee Bee was invited to perform at the 2023 Brisbane Pride Fair Day and also performed at the 2023 Brisbane Pride Queer Formal, both performances that brought countless praise and support for Bee Bee. She has also gone on to write for plays, perform at fringe shows and even try her hand at musical comedy.

“It really does feel like the community is lifting me up and I’ve never been prouder. The Brisbane scene is truly gorgeous, I’m so extremely lucky to be able to represent my pride along side my art because I know I never saw people like me performing like I do growing up.” Now Bee Bee Riot gets to take to the stage and be the person she wished she had seen in her youth. “I know I’m being the representation I never got! Huge shout out to my plus-size bisexuals reading this, we are stars!”