RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960), known professionally by his mononym

RuPaul, is an American actor, drag queen, model, author, television personality, and
recording artist. Since 2009, he has hosted and produced the drag queen reality show
RuPaul's Drag Race, for which he won an Emmy in 2016.
RuPaul was born and raised in San Diego and later moved to Atlanta to study performing
arts. He settled in New York City where he became a popular fixture on the nightclub scene.
RuPaul achieved international fame as a drag queen with the hit song "Supermodel (You
Better Work)" from his album Supermodel of the World (1993) and later dueted with Elton
John on the song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". In 1996, he became a spokesperson for
MAC Cosmetics, raising money for the Mac AIDS Fund and becoming the first drag queen
supermodel. The same year, he landed his own talk show The RuPaul Show which ran for two
years on VH1 before co-hosting the morning radio show on WKTU with Michelle Visage. He
has since released the albums Foxy Lady (1996), Ho, Ho, Ho (1997), Red Hot (2004),
Champion (2009), Glamazon (2011), Born Naked (2014), Realness (2015), Slay Belles (2015)
and Butch Queen (2016), and 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). RuPaul has also published two books: Lettin' It All Hang Out
(1995) and Workin' It (2010). His reality television series RuPaul's Drag Race, which follows
RuPaul in his search for the next drag superstar, has produced eight seasons and inspired the
spin-off shows RuPaul's Drag U & RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race on LGBTQ network Logo
TV. He is also a host on television shows Skin Wars, Good Work and Gay for Play Game
Show Starring RuPaul.