1. RuPaul produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race and has received several accolades, including 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, three GLAAD Media Awards, a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Billboard Music Awards, and a Tony Award.
RuPaul achieved international fame as a drag queen with the release of his debut single, "Supermodel ", which was included on his debut studio album Supermodel of the World.
RuPaul was a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics in 1994, raising money for the Mac AIDS Fund and becoming the first drag queen to land a major cosmetics campaign.
In 2018, RuPaul received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry.
RuPaul has made appearances in films, including Crooklyn, The Brady Bunch Movie, and But I'm a Cheerleader, as well as television series, including Girlboss and Broad City.
RuPaul created and starred in the Netflix original series AJ and the Queen.
RuPaul was born in San Diego on November 17,1960, the son of Ernestine "Toni" and Irving Andrew Charles.
RuPaul was named by his mother; "Ru" came from roux, the French term for the base of gumbo and other creole stews and soups.
RuPaul was raised in the Catholic faith and attended Patrick Henry High School.
RuPaul struggled as a musician and filmmaker during the 1980s, working at Atlanta's Plaza Theatre.
RuPaul took part in underground cinema, helping create the low-budget film Star Booty and an album of the same name.
RuPaul performed as a backup singer to Glen Meadmore along with drag queen Vaginal Davis.
RuPaul played opposite New York City drag performer Mona Foot in the one-act science-fiction parody "My Pet Homo", written and directed by Jon Michael Johnson for Cooper Square Productions.
RuPaul performed for many years at the annual Wigstock drag festival and appeared in the documentary Wigstock: The Movie.
RuPaul's following release "House of Love" failed to place on any US charts but peaked at 68 on the UK Singles Chart.
RuPaul was signed to a modeling contract for MAC Cosmetics.
RuPaul promoted the book in part with a 1995 guest appearance on ABC's All My Children, in a storyline that put it on the set of Erica Kane's talk show "The Cutting Edge".
In 1996, he landed a talk show of his own on VH1, called The RuPaul Show interviewing celebrity guests and musical acts.
RuPaul's co-host was Michelle Visage with whom he co-hosted on WKTU radio.
On one episode, RuPaul featured guests Chi Chi LaRue and Tom Chase speaking about the gay porn industry.
That year, RuPaul teamed with Martha Wash to remake the classic disco anthem, "It's Raining Men".
The song was included on the 1998 compilation CD RuPaul's Go Go Box Classics.
In 2004, RuPaul released his fourth album, Red Hot on his own RuCo Inc music label.
On June 13,2006, RuPaul released ReWorked, his first remix album.
In mid-2008, RuPaul began producing RuPaul's Drag Race, a reality television game show which aired on Logo in February 2009.
In March 2010, RuPaul released his second remix album, Drag Race, the album features remixes of songs from the 2009 album Champion.
In late 2011, RuPaul made appearances on The Rosie Show and The Chew, and attended a Drag Race NY Premiere party at Patricia Field's store in New York.
In fall of 2013, RuPaul joined forces with cosmetic manufacturers Colorevolution to launch his debut make-up line featuring ultra-rich pigment cosmetics and a beauty collection.
RuPaul's seventh studio album, Born Naked, was released on February 24,2014, to coincide with the premiere of the 6th season of RuPaul's Drag Race.
On March 2,2015, RuPaul released his eighth studio album, Realness.
In July 2016, it was announced that RuPaul was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.
On February 3,2017, RuPaul released the album Remember Me: Essential, Vol.
On March 24,2017, RuPaul released his eleventh studio album, American.
On March 16,2018, RuPaul received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television industry.
RuPaul was the first drag queen to be given the award.
RuPaul appeared in Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" music video.
RuPaul created and starred in the Netflix drama-comedy show AJ and the Queen, which was released on January 10,2020.
RuPaul made an appearance in the premiere episode of Canada's Drag Race.
RuPaul did voice work in Amphibia portraying the FBI agent Mr X RuPaul won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2022 as a producer of the Broadway musical A Strange Loop.
RuPaul began hosting a revival of the game show Lingo for CBS in 2023, as well as Celebrity Lingo, a spinoff of the UK series of the same name on ITV.
In 2018, RuPaul was one of the actors who voiced the audiobook A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo.
RuPaul has been an active supporter of voter registration, producing a public service announcement supporting National Voter Registration Day and urging everyone to register.
RuPaul's talk show The RuPaul Show was the first-ever national talk show to have a drag queen as a host.
In 1999, RuPaul was awarded the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for work in promoting equality in the LGBTQ community.
RuPaul has been noted as having a large part in RuPaul's Drag Races continuous television success.
RuPaul first won an Emmy for his work on the show in 2016, and one year later the show garnered eight nominations, including Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Competition Program for the first time in its 11-season run, and a second consecutive win for RuPaul in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.
RuPaul has been the subject of multiple controversies regarding his comments and actions towards the transgender community.
In 2018, RuPaul gave an interview to The Guardian in which he stated that a post-transition trans woman would "probably not" be accepted onto the show, noting that at the time of competition Peppermint had not yet had breast implants.
RuPaul met painter Georges LeBar in 1994 at the Limelight nightclub in New York City.
Environmentalists criticized them in 2020 after RuPaul revealed that they lease mineral rights and sell water to oil companies on their ranch, and allow fracking there.
RuPaul previously held a climate-themed ball on his show to raise environmental awareness, leading to accusations of hypocrisy.
RuPaul publicly endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election.
RuPaul has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for which he was inducted in 2018.
RuPaul has won 14 Primetime Emmy Awards, including 8 for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition program.