RuPaul is an American drag queen, singer, television personality, fashion icon, and writer. Among other accomplishments, RuPaul produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition 'RuPaul's Drag Race', which began airing in 2009 and is still going strong. In this memoir, RuPaul writes about his family; his life; his struggles; and his road to becoming a successful entertainer.
RuPaul Andre Charles
RuPaul judging 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
RuPaul was born in 1960 in San Diego, where he lived in a little house with his parents, Ernestine (Toni) and Irving, and his three sisters. As a boy RuPaul liked to watch television, which was "a window into something greater, a portal to new worlds." Inspired by television programs, RuPaul would put on shows for his mother, impersonating Tina Turner, or Carol Burnett, or LaWanda Page (who played Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son).
RuPaul's parents Ernestine and Irving
Young RuPaul
RuPaul with his sisters Renae, Rozy, and Renatta
RuPaul's mother was a strong flinty woman who taught him independence and self-sufficiency, while RuPaul's father - who was charismatic but self-centered and a cheater - went off with his mistress when RuPaul was a boy. RuPaul saw little of his dad after that, and the loss was deeply felt by both RuPaul and his mother, who took to her bed for years when her husband left.
RuPaul's mother Ernestine Charles
Young RuPaul wasn't like most other boys. He writes, "Most queer people understand the experience of growing up feeling that you are a little bit different. But I was REALLY different.....I had been codified in the neighborhood consciousness from a young age as a sissy."
Adolescent RuPaul
RuPaul had some friends, but he felt depressed; bored at school; and trapped in provincial San Diego. By the time RuPaul was in 10th grade, he would skip class and sit in the quad smoking cigarettes until it was time to go home.
During high school RuPaul moved in with his sister Renatta and her husband Gerald, but he still cut classes and smoked weed. Soon afterwards, Gerald, Renata, and RuPaul moved to Atlanta, so Gerald could build up a business, which involved flipping luxury cars.
RuPaul observes that Atlanta was everything San Diego was not - Atlanta was progressive, cosmopolitan, and had a large Black population. RuPaul enrolled in the Northside School of Performing Arts, where he was in the chorus and took acting classes before he just stopped going to school. RuPaul then began helping Gerald with his business, driving cars back and forth across the country.
Atlanta had a large Black population
Wanting to break into show business, RuPaul worked up an act for an Atlanta public access television show called 'The American Music Show.' RuPaul notes, "The aesthetic of the American Music Show was unorthodox and raw....the guests would sing a song while playing guitar or perform a dance number or just it and chat." RuPaul and some girls he knew formed a punk rock group called 'RuPaul and the U-Hauls' and RuPaul made all the costumes. He recalls, "I'd buy cheap fabric and fashion a dress or a top from it, tie bands of fabric around my arms, make a headband."
RuPaul early in his career
RuPaul early in his career
RuPaul and the U-Hauls
In Atlanta, RuPaul felt like he'd found his community, that he belonged, that he was understood. RuPaul writes a good deal about this period of his life, when he hung out with friends, struggled with poverty, did his show around town, worked as a go-go dancer, formed a new punk rock group called Wee Wee Pole, dated some boys, and used a lot of substances, like alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, acid, sleeping pills, LSD, etc.
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Atlanta had a lively party scene
RuPaul singing with Wee Wee Pole
Wee Wee Pole
RuPaul worked as a go-go dancer early in his career
RuPaul wanted to be a success in New York City, but had to hone his act in Atlanta before he could make it big up north. RuPaul went from 'Boy George' type drag to high-femme drag, and finally found his niche. Around this time, RuPaul decided he was going to stop using chemicals and clean up his act, but the reforms didn't last.
RuPaul in the 1980s
RuPaul doing a nightclub act in Atlanta n the 1980s
RuPaul got his big break with his 1992 song "Supermodel', which changed his life in many ways. Rupaul writes, "For the first time in my life, I had some money - which is not to say I was instantly rich. But since that day, I'd never again felt the fear of homelessness or poverty."
RuPaul hit it big with his song 'Supermodel'
RuPaul became a very popular entertainer
On the downside, RuPaul's alcohol and drug use crept back little by little. RuPaul remembers, "I was doing my nightclub act, promoting my products, and shooting movies. I was exhausted all the time. And the only way I knew to feel connected to the little part of me that was still left was to get high."
Concurrently, RuPaul was searching for romantic love, which added to his stress. RuPaul mentions a number of boyfriends that didn't work out, and writes about the ups and downs of his relationship with (his now husband) Georges Lebar, which was derailed (for a time) by their mutual substance abuse.
RuPaul and Georges Lebar early in their relationship
RuPaul and Georges Lebar
The book ends before the advent of 'RuPaul's Drag Race', and before RuPaul's marriage, so (I imagine) there might be a sequel.
This memoir feels like an honest depiction of RuPaul's life, without sugar coating. RuPaul was determined to be a star from the time he was a child, and he worked hard to achieve his goals while he struggled with family problems; used alcohol and drugs; had little or no money; saw the ravages of the AIDS epidemic; had runs in with police; mourned his mother's death; and more.
I'm a fan of RuPaul's Drag Race, and I'm always struck by RuPaul's empathy for the contestants, who - as gay men (for the most part) - often suffered rejection growing up. RuPaul's own background probably contributes to his understanding and good will.
Contestants on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'
RuPaul and the 'Pit Crew' on RuPaul's Drag Race
If you're a fan of RuPaul, this is a must read. Even if you're not a fan, this is still an interesting story. My major quibble would be that some of the philosophical insights, which are abundant, feel a bit tacked on.
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