How RuPaul Built A Multi-Million Dollar Empire

Nov 19 2020

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RuPaul Grew-Up With Nothing And Turned Everything Into Gold As RuPaul says, ‘You’d better work’ and work he did. The star has built a media empire with a worldwide audience and shows no signs of slowing down, even at age sixty. RuPaul may have been born naked, but the rest is drag, and we’re stunned by his hard work. Even as a child, RuPaul explored fashion, and emulated stars like Diana Ross. “I was always RuPaul. Always. Even as a kid, I would dress up in my sisters’ clothes, in cowboy outfits, in sailor outfits. I loved putting on different costumes.” the star says. After his parents' traumatic divorce, RuPaul moved to Atlanta in his teens, where he studied acting and first explored drag. After a lack of success when first moving to New York, the star returned to Atlanta to perfect his drag persona, and returned to New York to be crowned the Queen of New York several months later. As his fame grew, the star turned to LGBTQ+ activism, and became the first openly gay tv show host in 1996, when he hosted The RuPaul Show, which ran for two years. After years of television and music, RuPaul’s greatest triumph, RuPaul’s Drag Race premiered in 2009. The show has since won 13 Emmy Awards, and has inspired spin offs including RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and series in Canada, The UK, Holland and Thailand, to name a few. With the star looking to expand Drag Race to even more countries, and starring in Netflix’s new show, AJ and the Queen, as well as opening DragonCon, a Comicon for drag queens, the star shows no signs of slowing down. Written by: Marlena Fukerson Narrated by: Lanessa Tremblett Edited by: Ajay Danny