RuPaul

RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, singer, producer, and writer.

He 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."

Born and raised in San Diego, RuPaul later studied performing arts in Atlanta, before relocating to New York City, where he became a popular fixture on the LGBT nightclub scene.

RuPaul was born in San Diego on November 17, 1960, the son of Ernestine "Toni" (née Fontenette) and Irving Andrew Charles.

His parents were both from Louisiana.

He was named by his mother; "Ru" came from roux, the French term for the base of gumbo and other creole stews and soups.

According to the DNA analysis by Finding Your Roots staff, his ancestry is 70% African and 30% European.

After his parents divorced in 1967, he and his three sisters lived with their mother, a practicing Seventh-day Adventist.

He was raised in the Catholic faith and attended Patrick Henry High School.

At 15, RuPaul and his sister Renetta moved to Atlanta where they studied performing arts.

RuPaul struggled as a musician and filmmaker during the 1980s, where he worked at Atlanta's famed Plaza Theatre.

In 1982, he debuted on an Atlanta public access variety show called The American Music Show, on which he made frequent appearances over the years.

He also took part in underground cinema, helping create the low-budget film Star Booty and an album by 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.

RuPaul also performed as a backup singer to Glen Meadmore along with drag queen Vaginal Davis.

RuPaul's first prominent national exposure came in 1989, when he danced as an extra in the video for "Love Shack" by The B-52's.

In the early 1990s, 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.

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 Wigstock drag festival and appeared in the documentary Wigstock: The Movie.

In the 1990s, RuPaul was known in the UK for his appearances on the 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.

He also worked at WKTU in the late 1990s and was hired at WNEW in 2004.

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 (1993).

In 1993, 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 100.

It charted on the UK Singles Chart, peaking on the top 40 at 39.

RuPaul became a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics in 1994, raising money for the Mac AIDS Fund and becoming the first drag queen to land a major cosmetics campaign.

RuPaul has made appearances in films, including Crooklyn (1994), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), and But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), as well as television series, including Girlboss (2017), Broad City (2017), and Grace and Frankie (2019).

RuPaul has also published four books: Lettin' It All Hang Out (1995), Workin' It! RuPaul's Guide to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Style (2010), GuRu (2018), and The House of Hidden Meanings (2024).

As a recording artist, he has released fifteen studio albums.

He later received his own television talk show on VH1 titled The RuPaul Show (1996–1998), while co-hosting the morning radio show on WKTU with Michelle Visage.

RuPaul's Drag Race was created in 2009 and has gone on to produce sixteen seasons in the United States.

The show has also seen success internationally.

This has also inspired several spin-offs of the main show, including RuPaul's Drag U (2010–2012), RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, (2012–present), and RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race (2020–2022).

He has also featured as a host on other reality series, such as Skin Wars (2014–2016), Good Work (2015), and Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul (2016–2017).

There are several international variants of the show, including RuPaul's Drag Race UK (2019–present) and Canada's Drag Race (2020–present).

He received a Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the musical A Strange Loop (2019).

He created and starred in his own Netflix original series AJ and the Queen (2020).