The first time the public saw RuPaul Charles, he was posing for a fake fashion shoot while reclining on the hood of a New York City taxi in a platinum blond bouffant wig.
It was the music video for his breakout hit from 1992, “Supermodel,” which winked (through fake eyelashes) at our culture’s fixation on the aforementioned type of fashion icon.
While we gushed over Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, and Cindy Crawford, a 1.93m man with heels and a cinched-in waist was earning millions by doing the same thing.
The mask-shattering antics of this camp performance propelled RuPaul to fame.
Now, nearly 30 years later, he’s not only the most well-known drag performer in the world but also a major force in the entertainment industry and the brains behind RuPaul’s Drag Race, which has won more Emmys than any other reality competition show in history.
Who Is RuPaul?
Popular American drag queen, actor, model, singer, and author RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) are also known by his stage name, RuPaul.
Since the show’s inception in 2009, RuPaul has served as both producer and host, and the show’s success has earned him eleven Primetime Emmy Awards, making him the show’s most-honored person of color.
He’s widely considered the most financially successful drag queen in the United States. In 2017, he was recognized as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. A 2019 article in Fortune dubbed him “probably the world’s most renowned” drag queen.
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RuPaul: Career
His 1993 dance-pop album Supermodel of the World featured the motivational single “Supermodel (You Better Work).” Because of the music video, in which he paraded around in a blonde wig and a variety of attractive clothes, the song unexpectedly became a mainstream smash.
Due to the show’s popularity, RuPaul was offered roles in several movies and eventually appeared in 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 (1996). (1995). (1995).
In 1995, he also starred in the documentary Wigstock: The Movie released an autobiography called Lettin It All Hang Out, and secured a deal with M.A.C. Cosmetics, becoming the first drag queen to work as a spokesperson for a major cosmetics firm.
In 1996, RuPaul released Foxy Lady and then, for the holidays, Ho Ho Ho (1997). Even though her last album wasn’t released until 2012, RuPaul kept working in film and television (2004).
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As well as hosting The RuPaul Show (1997–1988), he was a frequent talk show guest and made cameo appearances in a few films. The third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK debuted on September 23, 2021.
RuPaul’s Upbringing Laid The Groundwork For Her Future Success
His dissatisfaction with gender norms. And in his father’s abandonment when he was only seven years old. While reminiscing on NPR,
he recalled waiting with his sisters on the porch of their home and telling them, “Daddy is getting the next car. Daddy is getting the next car.” As far as we know, he never came back.
“It was something I had to work through, and I’m stronger for it,” he said. “And I have a lot of my character crammed into that one event in my life, and it’s a constant source of hurt, but also of renewal, and of really having the perspective now to see that it was, yes, it was his loss more than anything, because he could not see the beauty that was there and the love that was there,” she continued.
At the age of 11, marijuana was used as a coping mechanism, and a few years later, he began performing (“the first half of my career was really about getting my father’s attention,” he once said).
After relocating to Atlanta with his sister to pursue a career in the performing arts, RuPaul found work as a dancer for the band Now Explosion at the tender age of 15. The next stop was New York City, where drag was being subverted.
He “glammed out” and adopted the ultra-feminine, artificial aesthetic that the world recognized in his late twenties when he released the hit single “Supermodel (You Better Work).
From Billboard Music Awards to Emmys (he’s won nine for his role as Drag Race’s host, and the show has taken home another ten in various categories), he has a cabinet full of awards thanks to his female alter ego, whom he sometimes refers to as the “Monster.”
However, It Also Provided Him With A Newfound Well Of Strength
“When you wear the costume, people’s perceptions of you and how they interact with you change immediately. But in drag, I have the same tremendous authority.
That’s a tremendous idea, “That’s what he had to say, he clarified. One of RuPaul’s Drag Race’s many superpowers is enlightening other queens about this fact.
The show, which premiered in the United States in 2009, is a parody of the reality television format, complete with challenges, a panel of judges, eliminations, and the requisite “journey” for the contestants. But in typical RuPaul fashion, the surface glitter and ostrich plumage mask an emotional core.
The stories of queens who were raised in conservative households, who were rejected by family and friends, and who were beaten by strangers because they dared to go outside wearing a wig, are well known.
Including examples of people who rejected the masculine ideal and found success and self-love as a result. It’s more than just a glitzy distraction. This is inherently political because of the identity politics at play.
Final Words
RuPaul Charles is his usual stage name. It is well-known that RuPaul, unlike many other famous drag queens, doesn’t care which gendered pronouns are used to refer to him. Call me “he” if you prefer.
