Famous Celebrities You Had No Idea Were HIV Positive or had AIDS

#1 Nadja Benaissa

Nadja Nenaissa was HIV positive. As it turns out, before her meteoric rise to pop super stardom, Benaissa had had an extremely difficult upbringing. She had lived on the street, struggled with drug addiction, and given birth to a child at 16 years of age. Somewhere along the line she also contracted the HIV virus. Although her bandmates knew her secret, Benaissa went to great lengths to hide it from the public and got in trouble with the law some years ago when she hid her HIV-positive status to sexual partners. She is now 33 years old.

#2 Andy Bell

For decades, one of the most popular musical acts in the LGBT community has been the electro-pop duo Erasure, the longtime project of former Depeche Mode and Yaz keyboardist and songwriter Vince Clarke and vocalist Andy Bell.

In 2004 Bell publicly revealed that he was HIV positive having been diagnosed in 1998. Erasure continue to tour and record, and in 2014 they released the album "The Violet Flame" which charted in the UK Albums Chart at number 20.

#3 Zackie Achmat

Activist and filmmaker Abdurrazack "Zachie" Achmat is one of the most recognizable faces in South Africa thanks to his tireless activism, documentary films, and media appearances. Known for his HIV/AIDS activism, Achmat announced his HIV-positive status in 1998 and refused to take anti-retroviral drugs until all those in need were able to have access to them. He also co-founded the Treatment Action Campaign in 1998 and before that, directed the AIDS Law Project.

#4 Steve Moore

No, there's nothing funny about being HIV-positive, but that didn't stop stand-up comedian Steve Moore form using his personal experience as someone struggling with the disease as inspiration for his act.

He is best known for his HBO comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous (A Tragi-Comedy): The Power of HIV-Positive Thinking. Although an openly gay man, he was in a lavender marriage with fellow homosexual comedienne Lois Bromfield for several years. Moore passed away in 2014 at the age of 59.

#5 Tom Fogerty

Although he isn't nearly as well known his younger brother John, the two guitar playing Fogerty brothers made musical history, and forever changed Rock & Roll radio as members of the amazing legendary band Credence Clearwater Revival.

Unfortunately, the two siblings had a huge falling out, and were never able to fully bury the hatchet before Tom died of AIDS in 1990. Nearing the end of his life, Tom allegedly said to his brother John, "Saul Zaentz is my best friend". Zaentz was the chief of Fantasy Records and John's enemy, which showed that brothers' relationship would never recover. It is believed that he contracted the HIV virus as a result of bad blood transfusions.

#6 Greg Louganis

Greg Louganis is the only Olympian who has won every gold medal available for male diving in two consecutive Olympic games. He won the gold medals for both the springboard and tower competitions at the 1984 games, and he did the same 4 years later at the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea. That same year, he tested positive for HIV.

#7 Ongina

The normally light-hearted and upbeat reality show Ru Paul's Drag Race took a very serious and somber tone during the fourth episode of the inaugural season when contestant Ongina revealed that she had been living with an HIV-positive diagnosis for the previous two years.

#8 Jerry Herman

Fortunately, thanks to advances in medical science, being diagnosed as HIV-positive is not the death sentence that it once was; people who are diagnosed today have to be cautious but they are nonetheless able to maintain a reasonable quality of life for decades following their initial diagnosis.

Thus, the fact that Broadway composer Jerry Herman is still alive at 84 years old is remarkable. After all, he was first diagnosed with HIV in 1984. Perhaps you haven't heard of Jerry Herman, but you have undoubtedly heard his music.

#9 Andrew Sullivan

Perhaps you wouldn't expect a political commentator known for his (mostly) conservative viewpoints to be an openly gay and HIV-positive man, but that is exactly the case with Andrew Sullivan. For many years, his HIV-positive status prevented the British born Sullivan from obtaining U.S. citizenship. However he was finally granted a green card in 2011, which he proudly displayed on air during an episode of the political debate program The Chris Mathews Show.

#10 Andy Fraser

The British rock group Free had a massive hit in 1970 with the rock & roll anthem "All Right Now." The group's bass player Andy Fraser was a mere 18-years-old when the song came out. Fraser was diagnosed as HIV-positive in the early days of the epidemic, and he also suffered from Kaposi's Sarcoma, a form of cancer that is often associated with HIV/AIDS. Nonetheless, he soldiered on, and continued playing, producing, writing, and recording until he passed away in March of 2015 at the age of 62.

#11 Chris Smith

When British parliamentarian Chris Smith announced that he was HIV-positive in 2005, the Labour Party cabinet minister had already been living with the reality of an HIV-positive diagnosis for over 17 years.

#12 Freddie Mercury

There will only ever be one Freddie Mercury. He was truly one of a kind. All you have to do is look at the footage of Mercury and his band Queen performing at Wembley Stadium in 1986 to understand his incredible power as a singer.

Another one of the greatest rock concerts of all time also took place at Wembley Stadium on April 20th 1992. At this concert, the surviving members of Queen, Guns & Roses, Metallica, Def Leppard, Elton John, and many others played their own songs as well as Queen classics in order to raise funds for AIDS charities. Mercury had passed away from complications due to AIDS less than 6 months prior to the concert. We will miss you forever, Freddie.