RuPaul, Drag Race, and the “Werk” that Came Before
"We’re all born naked, and the rest is drag.” — RuPaul
RuPaul Charles was born on November 17, 1960 in San Diego, California. His parents, Ernestine “Toni” Fontenette and Irving Charles, divorced by the time he was 7; although Ru and his three sisters would continue to live with their mother, older twins Renetta and Renae played a major role in raising Ru. Toni was fiercely supportive of her son, though, despite struggling with her own depression, never doubting that he would be a star one day (a prediction that had been shared with her by a psychic). She would, of course, be correct.
As he grew up — eventually moving to Atlanta with Renetta, where he attended a performing arts school — RuPaul was inspired by divas like Diana Ross and Cher, the punk rock aesthetic and androgynous performers like David Bowie, the irreverence of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the drag queen and ballroom house founder Crystal LaBeija, and queer cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show; these icons would go on to shape his drag performance. In the 1980s, Ru began performing in bands, and producing and starring in underground films, including the Starbooty (also spelled as Starrbooty in some instances) trilogy, a send-up of Blaxploitation films.
Originally performing in a style of drag more focused on gender-bending than looking more stereotypically “like a woman,” RuPaul's style would eventually develop into the more glamorous look for which he is known today. / THF708365
RuPaul’s big break came in 1992, when he released the single “Supermodel (You Better Work)” and accompanying album Supermodel of the World. The single rose to the No. 2 slot on the Billboard dance charts and No. 45 on the Hot 100. Two years later, RuPaul was named as the face of MAC Cosmetics — the first major makeup deal for a drag queen. He then received his own talk show on VH1, called The RuPaul Show, which ran for 100 episodes and featured celebrity interviews, comedic skits, and humorous field reports.
This cover of LGBTQ+ zine My Comrade features a photo of RuPaul on The Arsenio Hall Show following the success of “Supermodel.” In discussing why he does drag, RuPaul had this to say in the interview: “My thing is I look damn good up here in high heels and a wig.” / THF708385
"Supermodel” and the VH1 talk show brought RuPaul into the public consciousness, but his biggest success was still to come. In 2009, the queer-content-focused Logo network premiered RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality competition that brought drag queens from around the country together to compete for the title of “America’s next drag superstar.” The show soon took off, running for 16 seasons (and counting), spawning the spin-off RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars (8 seasons and counting) as well as 15 international versions, and receiving 24 Emmys (out of 34 nominations) amongst numerous other awards.
Drag Race brought success for more than just RuPaul, though — it also served as a launching point or career boost for numerous queens, across several arenas:
Nina West (season 11), Jinkx Monsoon (season 7, All Stars 7), and Bob the Drag Queen (season 8) all have had roles in major musicals: Nina as Edna Turnblad in the touring company of Hairspray (a role traditionally played in drag), Jinkx as Mama Morton in the Broadway company of Chicago, and Bob as Belize in the Broadway revival of Angels in America.
Shangela (season 2, season 3, and All Stars 3) had a supporting role in the award-winning film A Star is Born, and competed on season 31 of Dancing with the Stars. Valentina (season 9, All Stars 4) was cast as Angel in the Fox television production of Rent: Live!, cameoed in the film In the Heights, and has been featured on the cover of Vogue Mexico.
Trixie Mattel (season 7, All Stars 3) has had a successful music career, owns a cosmetics company, and recently opened her own motel; she and fellow season 7 queen Katya Zamolodchikova (also All Stars season 2) have formed a dynamic duo of sorts, most notably hosting the web series UNHhhh, creating The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie and Katya podcast, starring on the Netflix YouTube show I Like to Watch, and co-authoring two books: Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Modern Womanhood and Working Girls: Trixie and Katya’s Guide to Professional Womanhood.
These are just a few of the accomplished queens who have made their mark outside of the show — a list that continues to grow year after year, season after season.
Thanks in large part to RuPaul and Drag Race, drag has a greater level of visibility in “mainstream” culture than it has ever had before. Audiences of all ages and backgrounds — queer or not — enjoy drag, and it is more popular now than ever. Perhaps most importantly, though, Drag Race and its queens have brought further attention to the LGBTQ+ community, its history, and the challenges it faces today. / RuPaul Little People Collector Set, loan courtesy of Kristen Gallerneaux
RuPaul and Drag Race may be phenomena in and of themselves, but they stand on the shoulders of a long history of drag performers and transwomen who came before them. Marsha P. Johnson. Crystal LaBeija. Dorian Corey. Venus Extravaganza. Charles Pierce. Divine. Flawless Sabrina. William Dorsey Swann. The list could go on and on. All of them have faced their own fraught times with fabulousness — particularly those who chose to glam up in a time when drag was still being criminalized or used as a reason to institutionalize. They dared to be who they were, regardless of the consequences, and in doing so helped clear the way for the queens who came after them, just as today’s queens continue to blaze a trail into a future that is hopefully as colorful, creative, and sparkling as they are.
Rachel Yerke-Osgood, associate curator at The Henry Ford
For further reading on RuPaul’s Drag Race in the context of the history of queer culture, the author recommends Legendary Children: The First Decade of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Last Century of Queer Life by Tom Fitzgerald and Lorenzo Marquez.
