Sweet hollywood rupaul biography

American drag queen, actor and musician (born )

RuPaul Andre Charles^[1][2] (born November 17, ) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He^[a] produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race and has received several accolades, including 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, three GLAAD Media Awards, a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Billboard Music Awards, and a Tony Award. He has been dubbed the "Queen of Drag" and is considered the most commercially successful drag queen in the United States, with Fortune saying that he is "easily the world's most famous drag queen."^[5] In , RuPaul was included in the annual Time list of the most influential people in the world.^[6][7]

Born and raised in San Diego, California,^[8][9] RuPaul studied performing arts in Atlanta, Georgia, before relocating to New York City, where he became a popular fixture on the LGBT nightclub scene. He achieved international fame as a drag queen with the release of his debut single, "Supermodel (You Better Work)", which was included on his debut studio album Supermodel of the World (). As a recording artist, he has gone on to release fifteen studio albums. RuPaul was a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics in , raising money for the Mac AIDS Fund and becoming the first drag queen to land a major cosmetics campaign.

RuPaul's Drag Race was created in and has gone on to produce sixteen seasons in the United States. The show has also seen success internationally and there are several international variants of the show, including RuPaul's Drag Race UK (–present) and Canada's Drag Race (–present). There are also several spin-offs of the main show, such as RuPaul's Drag U (–), RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, (–present), and RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race (–). His other television work includes The RuPaul Show (–), Skin Wars (–), Good Work (), Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul (–), and RuPaul (). In , RuPaul received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry.^[10]

RuPaul has made appearances in films, including Crooklyn (), The Brady Bunch Movie (), and But I'm a Cheerleader (), as well as television series, including Girlboss and Broad City (both ). He created and starred in the Netflix original series AJ and the Queen (). RuPaul has also published four books: Lettin' It All Hang Out (), Workin' It! RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style (), GuRu (), and The House of Hidden Meanings ().

Early life

RuPaul was born in San Diego on November 17, , the son of Ernestine "Toni" (née Fontenette) and Irving Andrew Charles. His parents were both from Louisiana.^[11][12] He was named by his mother; "Ru" came from roux, the French term for the base of gumbo and other creole stews and soups.^[13] According to DNA analysis by Finding Your Roots staff, his ancestry is 70% African and 30% European.^[12][14]

After his parents divorced in , RuPaul and his three sisters lived with their mother, a Seventh-day Adventist.^[15][16] He was raised in the Catholic faith and attended Patrick Henry High School.^[17] At 15, RuPaul and his sister Renetta moved to Atlanta, where they studied performing arts.^[18]

Career

– Beginnings and Supermodel of the World

RuPaul struggled as a musician and filmmaker during the s, working at Atlanta's Plaza Theatre. In , he debuted on an Atlanta public access variety show called The American Music Show, and went on to appear on the show frequently.^{[4]:&#;59&#;[19]} He also took part in underground cinema, helping create the low-budget film Star Booty and an album of the same name. In Atlanta he often performed at the Celebrity Club, managed by Larry Tee, as a bar dancer or with his band, Wee Wee Pole.^[20][21][22] RuPaul also performed as a backup singer to Glen Meadmore along with drag queen Vaginal Davis.^[23] His first prominent national exposure came in , when he danced as an extra in the video for The Bs' "Love Shack".^[24]

In the early s, RuPaul worked the Georgia club scene and was known by his full birth name. Initially participating in gender bender-style performances, he performed solo and in collaboration with other bands at several New York City nightclubs, most notably the Pyramid Club.^[25] He played opposite New York City drag performer Mona Foot (Nashom Benjamin) in the one-act science-fiction parody "My Pet Homo", written and directed by Jon Michael Johnson for Cooper Square Productions. He performed for many years at the annual Wigstockdrag festival and appeared in the documentary Wigstock: The Movie. In the s, RuPaul appeared on the UK Channel 4 series Manhattan Cable, a weekly series produced by World of Wonder and presented by American Laurie Pike about New York's public-access television system.

In , RuPaul recorded the dance/house album Supermodel of the World. It was released through the rap label Tommy Boy, spawning the dance track hit "Supermodel (You Better Work)". The song peaked at 45 on the Billboard Hot It charted on the UK Singles Chart, peaking on the top 40 at The song found the most success on the BillboardHot Dance Music/Club Play chart, where it peaked at 2. Radio airplay, heavy rotation of the music video on MTV, and television appearances on popular programs like The Arsenio Hall Show popularized the song. His next two singles/videos, "Back to My Roots" and "A Shade Shady (Now Prance)", both went to the top spot on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. His following release "House of Love" failed to place on any U.S. charts but peaked at 68 on the UK Singles Chart. In , he released "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", a duet with Elton John.^[26]

RuPaul was signed to a modeling contract for MAC Cosmetics. Various billboards featured him in full drag, often with the text "I am the MAC girl". He also released his autobiography, Lettin' It All Hang Out. He promoted the book in part with a guest appearance on ABC's All My Children, in a storyline that put it on the set of Erica Kane's talk show "The Cutting Edge". The same year, he was featured in his first of two appearances in the Brady Bunch movies, in which he played Jan's female guidance counselor.

– Foxy Lady and Red Hot

In , he landed a talk show of his own on VH1, called The RuPaul Show interviewing celebrity guests and musical acts. Cher, Diana Ross, Nirvana, Duran Duran, Pat Benatar, Mary J. Blige, Bea Arthur, Dionne Warwick, Cyndi Lauper, Olivia Newton-John, Beenie Man, Pete Burns, Bow Wow Wow, and the Backstreet Boys were notable guests. His co-host was Michelle Visage with whom he also co-hosted on WKTU radio. On one episode, RuPaul featured guests Chi Chi LaRue and Tom Chase speaking about the gay porn industry.

Later in the year he released his second album, Foxy Lady, this time on the L.A.-based Rhino Records label. The album failed to chart on the Billboard However, its first single "Snapshot" went to number four on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. It also enjoyed limited mainstream success, charting at 95 on the Billboard Hot , which was his second and final solo Hot entry to date. The album's second single "A Little Bit of Love" was not as successful, peaking at 28 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. During this time, RuPaul hosted a morning radio show at WKTU radio in New York City and would serve as host until ^[27]

In , he released his third album, the Christmas-themed Ho Ho Ho. That year, RuPaul teamed with Martha Wash to remake the classic disco anthem, "It's Raining Men". The song was included on the compilation CD RuPaul's Go Go Box Classics. During this time, he appeared in Webex TV commercials and magazine ads. In , he was featured on the Eurodance track "You're No Lady" alongside Brigitte Nielsen.

In , RuPaul released his fourth album, Red Hot on his own RuCo Inc. music label. It received dance radio and club play, but very little press coverage. RuPaul later noted, "I don't know what happened. It seemed I couldn't get press on my album unless I was willing to play into the role that the mainstream press has assigned to gay people, which is as servants of straight ideals."^[28]Red Hot's lead single "Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous" peaked at number two on the dance chart. The second, "WorkOut", peaked at number five. The third and final single from the album "People Are People" a duet with Tom Trujillo, peaked at number The album itself only charted on the Top Electronic Albums chart, where it hit number nine.^[29] In September, he was hired at WNEW.^[27]

On June 13, , RuPaul released ReWorked, his first remix album. The only single released from the album was a re-recording of "Supermodel (You Better Work)", which reached number 21 on the U.S. dance chart. June 20, , saw the release of Starrbooty: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack in the United States. The single "Call Me Starrbooty" was digitally released in The album contains new tracks as well as interludes with dialogue from the movie. The film was released on DVD in October

– RuPaul's Drag Race, Champion, and Glamazon

In mid, RuPaul began producing RuPaul's Drag Race, a reality television game show which aired on Logo in February On the program drag queens compete to be selected by RuPaul and a panel of judges as "America's next drag superstar". The first season's winner was BeBe Zahara Benet, and first runner-up Nina Flowers was chosen by fans as "Miss Congeniality" through voting via the show's official website. To publicize the new show, RuPaul appeared on several other shows in , including Project Runway, as guest judge, and on Paula's Party as a guest "chef".^[30][31]

In March , RuPaul released the album Champion. The album spawned four singles "Cover Girl", "Jealous of My Boogie", "Devil Made Me Do It", and "Tranny Chaser". The album peaked at number 12 on the BillboardDance/Electronic Albums as well as 26 on the BillboardTop Heatseekers chart. Logo's second annual NewNowNext Awards in were hosted by RuPaul. There he performed "Jealous of My Boogie (Gomi & RasJek Edit)". In March , RuPaul released his second remix album, Drag Race, the album features remixes of songs from the album Champion.^[32]

In April , coinciding with the finale of season 3 of RuPaul's Drag Race, RuPaul released his sixth studio album Glamazon, produced by Revolucian. The album charted on Billboard'sDance/Electronic Albums and the BillboardTop Heatseekers chart at 11 and 8 respectively. In July , he released another remix EP entitled SuperGlam DQ which features remixes of tracks from Glamazon, remixes of the "Drag U Theme Song", and a new song, "Sexy Drag Queen". The second season of RuPaul's Drag U began in June In late , RuPaul made appearances on The Rosie Show and The Chew, and also attended a Drag Race NY Premiere party at Patricia Field's store in New York. Season 4 of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on Logo on January 30, , with RuPaul returning as the main host and judge. In the fall of , the spin-off RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars premiered and featured past contestants of the previous four seasons. Season 5 of RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on January 28, On April 30, , he released "Lick It Lollipop" featuring Lady Bunny.

In fall of , RuPaul joined forces with cosmetic manufacturers Colorevolution to launch his debut make-up line featuring ultra-rich pigment cosmetics and a beauty collection. Released alongside the line was a unisex perfume entitled "Glamazon". Talking to World of Wonder he said: "Glamazon is for women and men of all ages and preferences who share one thing in common: They are not afraid to be fierce. For me, glamour should be accessible to all, and I am committed to helping the world look and smell more beautiful." The line was exclusively sold on the Colorevolution website in various gift sets.^[33][34]

– Born Naked, Realness,Butch Queen, and television expansion

On January 28, RuPaul released RuPaul Presents The CoverGurlz, a collaborative album featuring new versions of RuPaul songs from to His seventh studio album, Born Naked, was released on February 24, , to coincide with the premiere of the 6th season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Born Naked placed at number 4 on the US Billboard dance chart and 85 on the Billboard chart. On April 9, , RuPaul and Michelle Visage released the first episode of their podcast, RuPaul: What's the Tee? with Michelle Visage. In August, he joined the reality competition show Skin Wars acting as a judge.

On March 2, , RuPaul released his eighth studio album, Realness. The release coincided with the premiere of the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race. In April, he launched and began hosting a new show, Good Work, a plastic surgery-themed talk show for E!. In October he released his second Christmas album, and ninth studio album, Slay Belles. The album contains ten original Christmas-themed songs and features collaborations with Michelle Visage, Siedah Garrett, Todrick Hall, and Big Freedia. The album charted at 21 on the US BillboardDance chart.^[35]

In January , it was announced RuPaul would present a new game show for Logo TV called Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul which premiered on April 11, , after RuPaul's Drag Race.^[36] In March , he released his tenth album, Butch Queen, just prior to the premiere of the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.^[37] A song from the album, "U Wear It Well" was featured in the teaser campaigns for the season and was released as its first single. The album charted at number 3 on the US BillboardDance chart.^[35] "'Be Someone" featuring American singer Taylor Dayne was released as the album's second and final single. Additionally, Butch Queen: The Ru-Mixes was released.

In July , it was announced that RuPaul was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. He was presented the award at the September Creative Arts Emmy Awards Ceremony. also saw the release of the single "Read U Wrote U" that features rap parts by the RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2 finalists Roxxxy Andrews, Katya Zamolodchikova, Alaska Thunderfuck, and Detox Icunt with production by Ellis Miah.^[38]

–present: Further album releases, Drag Race UK, AJ and the Queen, and further TV shows

On February 3, , RuPaul released the album Remember Me: Essential, Vol. 1. It is a collection of new songs and remakes of RuPaul hits that feature new artists.^[39] Two singles were released from the album: "Rock It (To The Moon)", and an updated version of RuPaul's single "Snapshot" from Foxy Lady. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard Dance Albums Sales Chart in the United States and at number eleven on the UK Dance Albums Chart. On March 24, , RuPaul released his eleventh studio album, American.^[40] On the same day, the ninth regular season of RuPaul's Drag Race debuted on basic cable channel VH1. It moved from the expanded cable channel Logo TV which aired all previous seasons of the show. The season 9 premiere featured singer Lady Gaga as its guest judge and was a success, with ratings of nearly 1,, viewers, making it the series' most viewed episode.^[41]

On June 9, , Essential, Vol. 2 was released. It was preceded by the single "Crying on the Dance Floor", a re-recording of the single "Main Event" from Champion. On March 16, , RuPaul received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry.^[42] He was the first drag queen to be given the award.^[43] RuPaul released his third Christmas album in October ^[44]

In June , the daytime talk show RuPaul premiered. It was cancelled after a three-week test run.^[45][46] He also appeared in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video.^[47] In late , the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK was released on BBC3.^[48][49] It was renewed for a second season which was released in ^[50] RuPaul also created and starred in the Netflix drama-comedy show AJ and the Queen, which was released on January 10, ^[51] On March 6, , Netflix announced that the series had been cancelled.^[52] RuPaul hosted Saturday Night Live on February 8, ^[53] On May 11, RuPaul made an appearance on The Price Is Right at Night.^[54] He also made an appearance in the premiere episode of Canada's Drag Race.

In August , RuPaul guest hosted two episodes of the talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!.^[55] He did voice work in Amphibia portraying the FBI agent Mr. X. He won the Tony Award for Best Musical in as a producer of the Broadway musical A Strange Loop.^[56] He also voices himself as the announcer on The Tiny Chef Show.^[57] He began hosting a revival of the game show Lingo for CBS in ,^[58] as well as Celebrity Lingo, a spinoff of the UK series of the same name on ITV.^[59]

HarperCollins published the RuPaul memoir The House of Hidden Meanings in March ^[60]

Other ventures

Podcasting

The podcastRuPaul: What's the Tee? With Michelle Visage debuted on April 6, Ru-Paul co-hosts with longtime friend and fellow RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage. The weekly show features their thoughts on topics including behind-the-scenes of RuPaul's Drag Race, life advice, beauty tips, and conversations with featured guests from the entertainment world.^[61][62]

Audiobooks

In , RuPaul was one of the actors who voiced the audiobook A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.^[63]

Drag conventions

Launched through production company World of Wonder, RuPaul's DragCon LA is an annual drag-themed convention held in Los Angeles which started in , followed by RuPaul's DragCon NYC. It began in in New York City; the public is able to meet with RuPaul, former RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, and other drag queens.^[64] The conventions feature performances, meet-and-greet booths, merchandise sales and panel discussions.^[65]

Activism

RuPaul has been an active supporter of voter registration, producing a public service announcement supporting National Voter Registration Day^[66] and urging everyone to register.^[67] As RuPaul said voter ID laws vary from state to state; the details of the voter ID required in each state are provided by HeadCount and VoteRiders. As one in five LGBTQ adults are not registered to vote, voter registration efforts have expanded recently. Several stars from RuPaul's Drag Race act as Ambassadors for Drag Out the Vote.^[68]

Main article: Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act

In March , in response to the Tennessee Adult Entertainment Act, RuPaul, World of Wonder producers Randy Barbarto and Fenton Bailey, and MTV began a fund to fight anti-drag initiatives.^[69][70][71] The ACLU maintains the fund,^[72] which received donations from efforts at DragCon LA ,^[73] the "Drag Isn't Dangerous" livestream telethon,^[74] "Can't Hold us Down",^[75] "Born This Way",^[76] and "God Save the Queens",^[77] as well as a small donation from the Manhattan Association of Cabarets.^[78]

The Instagram post RuPaul made prior to the establishment of the fund called on followers to vote, saying, "Register to vote so we can get those stunt queens out of office." The video ends with the statement, "By the way, a social media post has never been as powerful as a registered vote."^[79]

Impact

Lauren Herold of deemed RuPaul "arguably the most commercially successful drag queen in America."^[80] Sami Main of Adweek credited him with creating wider exposure for drag queens from LGBT culture into mainstream society, thanks to his early-career chart success, and later, the successive climb in viewership of RuPaul's Drag Race.^[81] His talk show The RuPaul Show was the first-ever national talk show to have a drag queen as a host. Along with his partner Michelle Visage, he welcomed an array of high-profile guests such as Cher, Lil Kim, and Diana Ross over the show's episode span. As well as having a variety of comedy skits, the show was noted for discussing topics such as black empowerment, female empowerment, misogyny, and liberal politics that were otherwise unheard of in s television at the time.^[82] In , RuPaul was awarded the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for work in promoting equality in the LGBT community.

RuPaul has also been noted as having a large part in RuPaul's Drag Race's continuous television success. By pioneering queer representation on television, many believe RuPaul to have essentially revolutionised the portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community on screen.^[83] He first won an Emmy for his work on the show in , and one year later the show garnered eight nominations, including Outstanding Reality-Competition Program for the first time in its season run, and a second consecutive win for RuPaul in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.^[84] In , he was included in the annual Time list of the most influential people in the world.^[85] In , Fortune noted RuPaul as "easily the world's most famous" drag queen.^[5]

RuPaul has been the subject of multiple controversies regarding his comments and actions towards the transgender community. According to Vox, he has a complicated relationship with this community, in part due to differing philosophies: through drag he seeks to mock gender and identity stereotypes, while in his view the trans community takes identity seriously.^[86] Nevertheless, RuPaul's Drag Race has featured a number of contestants who are trans women, some of whom made their identity public while competing on the show, including Sonique, Carmen Carrera, Jiggly Caliente, Monica Beverly Hillz, Kenya Michaels, and Gia Gunn.^[87][88] Later seasons of the show have included contestants who had already disclosed their trans identity prior to their season beginning. In , Peppermint became the first contestant to compete throughout her season as an openly trans woman and in Gottmik was the first to compete as an openly trans man.^[89][90] Other non-conforming gender identities expressed by former contestants include both non-binary (Jinkx Monsoon, Aja, Valentina, Divina de Campo, Ginny Lemon, Violet Chachki,^[91] and Sasha Velour^[92]) and genderfluid (Courtney Act^[93] and Kelly Mantle^[94]) persons.

In , trans activists and former contestants Carmen Carrera and Monica Beverly Hillz criticized the show's use of words such as tranny and shemaletransphobic.^[95][96]That year's season also included a "Female or She-male" segment that required contestants to guess whether various photographs featured cisgender "biological women" or "psychological women" (drag queens), causing further criticism.^[97]"^[98] RuPaul criticized those attempting to police his language in bad faith and noted that tranny referred to transvestites and drag queens, not just trans women.^[99][]

In , RuPaul gave an interview to The Guardian in which he stated that a post-transition trans woman would "probably not" be accepted onto the show, noting that at the time of competition Peppermint had not yet had breast implants.^[] After facing criticism on social media and from former contestants for his remarks,^[] RuPaul compared trans drag queens who had transitioned to athletes who had taken performance-enhancing drugs.^[] He subsequently expressed regret for the hurt caused by his remarks, and that the only screening criteria for contestants were "charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent."^[] Since he made these statements, multiple transgender contestants have competed on the show.

Personal life

RuPaul met painter Georges LeBar in at the Limelight nightclub in New York City.^[] They married in January ^[] They have an open marriage; RuPaul has said he would not want to "put restraints" on the person he loves.^[] The two split their time between a home in Los Angeles and a 60,acre (24,&#;ha) ranch in Wyoming.^[] Environmentalists criticized them in after RuPaul revealed that they lease mineral rights and sell water to oil companies on their ranch, and allow fracking there.^[][][] According to public maps, the ranch has at least 35 active wells.^[] RuPaul previously held a climate-themed ball on his show to raise environmental awareness, leading to accusations of hypocrisy.^[]

RuPaul publicly endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election.^[] He expressed dismay at Clinton's defeat by Republican nominee Donald Trump, saying, "The America that we have all fought so hard for, the narrative of love and peace and liberty and equality, it feels like it is dead."^[] He has described doing drag as a "very, very political" act because it "challenges the status quo" by rejecting fixed identities: "Drag says 'I'm a shapeshifter, I do whatever the hell I want at any given time'."^[]

RuPaul started smoking cannabis at age 10 or ^[][][] Since , he has been sober and has not had alcohol, drugs, or tobacco. In , he found out while appearing on the TV show Finding Your Roots that he and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker are "DNA cousins."^[] In a interview, RuPaul said, "I'm not religious, but I do have spiritual practices like yoga and meditation and I do pray."^[]

Discography

Main article: RuPaul discography

Studio albums

Filmography

Film

Short films

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by RuPaul

RuPaul has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for which he was inducted in In he became the first drag queen inducted into the California Hall of Fame.^[] He has also won 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, including 8 for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition program. This makes him the most awarded in the category as well as the most-awarded person of color in Emmy history.^[] His other notable accolades include a Tony Award, two Billboard Music Awards, four Canadian Screen Awards, ten Critics' Choice Real TV Awards, a Critics' Choice Award, four GLAAD Media Awards including the GLAAD Vito Russo Award in , and five Producers Guild of America Awards.

In , a species of Australian soldier fly was named Opaluma rupaul. The name was chosen in reference to the fly's "costume of shiny metallic rainbow colours." Other species described in the same article were named O. ednae (after fellow drag queen Dame Edna Everage) and O. fabulosa.^[][]

Books

See also

Explanatory notes

References