Billie Jean King Revealed as Masked Singer Contestant Royal Hen

A sports hero and lesbian icon was revealed as a contestant on The Masked Singer Wednesday night, in an episode that paid tribute to another LGBTQ+ legend.

The Royal Hen, singing “Philadelphia Freedom” in a night of Elton John songs, was unmasked as tennis champion and activist Billie Jean King. She was eliminated from the competition, but fans were thrilled when her identity was revealed.

King and John are longtime friends, and he wrote the song for her. In World Team Tennis in the 1970s, King’s team was the Philadelphia Freedoms. They were fans of each other’s work before they met in 1973. “Elton was such a fan, in fact, that he’d attend King’s World Team Tennis matches dressed in the uniform of her team,” Yahoo! Entertainment reports.

John played an in-progress recording of the song for King and her Philadelphia Freedoms teammates in 1974, and she loved it immediately. Released in 1975, it became a huge hit, going to number 1 on the charts and becoming the third-best-selling single of the year. It even “took on larger, broader meaning not only as a bicentennial-era patriotic anthem, but as a perennial gay anthem,” Yahoo! Entertainment notes.

King is known not only for her tennis skills but for her advocacy for women in the sport and for LGBTQ+ rights. John is an activist and philanthropist as well.

Actor Ken Jeong was the judge who correctly guessed that Royal Hen was King; it helped that he knew “Philadelphia Freedom” has been written for her. There had been hints that the singer was a feminist icon, and guesses included Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Judge Robin Thicke said his father, Alan Thicke, had dated Steinem.

Watch the performance and the reveal below.

Royal Hen Performs "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John | Season 10 | The Masked Singerwww.youtube.com

The Reveal: Billie Jean King is Royal Hen | Season 10 | The Masked Singerwww.youtube.com