RuPaul

Background

RuPaul Andre Charles, born November 17, 1960, is the world’s most famous drag queen and a household name in the L.G.B.T. community. He is an accomplished musician, model, and T.V. judge. He was born and raised in San Diego, California, to Ernestine “Toni” Fontenette and Irving Andrew Charles. He and his three sisters were raised by their mother in San Diego after his parents divorced. He initially attended Patrick Henry High School in San Diego but moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in his mid-teens with his sister Renetta to study performing arts. He made his first television appearance on the variety show “The American Music Show” in 1982. RuPaul always had a knack for dressing up and started performing in drag across the nightclub circuit in Atlanta. After small gigs and appearances, he finally got a chance to be a background dancer in the video ‘Love Shack’ by The B-52s in 1989. In the early 1990s, he performed in nightclubs across Georgia and New York.

In 1993, RuPaul recorded his song ‘Supermodel of the World,’ which was an instant hit on M.T.V. and peaked at #45 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. He paraded around in a blonde wig and other glam ensembles, and the song unexpectedly became a popular hit. He then acted in several films like “Crooklyn” (1994), “Blue in the Face” (1995), “The Brady Bunch Movie” (1995), and the drag-themed comedy “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar” (1995). In 1995, he released his autobiography “Lettin’ It All Hang Out.” RuPaul landed his talk show, “The RuPaul Show,” the following year, where he interviewed celebrity guests, including the grunge band Nirvana to his musical idol, Diana Ross. In 2009, he hosted the first season of the hit reality T.V. drag competition “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” for which he achieved international fame. That same year, he guest-starred on multiple other reality T.V. shows, including “Project Runway” and “Paula’s Party.”

In 2012, RuPaul produced the first season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars,” which starred eliminated queens from the original series. The following year, he collaborated with beauty brand Colorevolution to release his debut line of cosmetic products. In 2014, he released his seventh album, “Born Naked,” which reached the number one spot on the dance album chart on Apple’s music streaming service iTunes. That same year, he started his podcast “RuPaul: What’s the Tee? with Michelle Visage,” his co-judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” In 2016, RuPaul won the first Emmy for his reality show “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” In 2017, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. The same year, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by “Time” magazine. In 2019, “Fortune” noted RuPaul as “easily the world’s most famous” drag queen. He married painter Georges LeBar in 2017, whom he met at a nightclub in New York City in 1994.