RuPaul’s Drag Race is beloved by people all over the world and at its centre is RuPaul himself – the most famous drag queen in the world. Born RuPaul Andre Charles, the American talent – who is also an actor – has revealed in the past that he is indifferent to the pronouns used to address him, saying: “You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee – I don’t care!”
Thanks to his TV successes, RuPaul has accumulated a huge fortune over the years.
The drag queen is worth a whopping $60million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
That’s currently equivalent to around £45million.
But, who is RuPaul and how did he get to where he is today?
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RuPaul was born in San Diego, California, in 1960, to parents from Louisiana.
During the 1980s, RuPaul worked as a musician and filmmaker, making his TV debut on an Atlanta public access variety show called The American Music Show.
He also participated in underground cinema, helping to create the low-budget film Star Booty, as well as an album with the same name.
In the early 1990s, RuPaul began working in the nightclub scene and performed solo and in collaboration with other bands in various clubs in New York City.
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In 1993, RuPaul recorded the album Supermodel of the World before later releasing the two singles Back to My Roots and A Shade Shady (Now Prance), which both went to the top spot on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.
The singer was also signed to a modelling contract for MAC Cosmetics, appearing on various billboards in full drag.
In 1996, RuPaul landed his own talk show, The RuPaul Show, which aired on VH1.
He interviewed celebrity guests including Diana Ross, Nirvana, Olivia Newton-John, Cyndi Lauper, and more.
RuPaul continued to sing and record albums, releasing his fourth album, Red Hot, on his own RuCo Inc. music label in 2004.
RuPaul drag race came into existence in 2009, airing for the first time on American TV channel Logo in February that year.
The premise of the programme – which is still the same today – was having drag queens compete to be selected by RuPaul and a panel of judges as “America’s next drag superstar”.
In 2016, RuPaul presented a new game show for Logo called Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul, which coincided with the release of his tenth album, Butch Queen.
Also that year, the drag queen was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Programme, which he won at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards Ceremony in September 2016.
In 2019, the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK was released on BBC Three.
It was an instant hit and was renewed for a second season, which aired in 2021.
RuPaul has also appeared as guest host on Saturday Night Live and Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
As for his personal life, RuPaul is married to painter Georges LeBar.
The two wed in January 2017 and have an open marriage. They live between a home in Los Angeles and a 60,000-acre ranch in Wyoming.
