In my last two articles, I have written about two amazing films that have provided the inspiration for many important parts of modern drag. Priscilla and Rocky Horror really are two iconic movies, but of course they're not the only ones. A few honourable mentions that have definitely paved the way for modern drag artists, but I feel like I don't know enough about them to give them the credit they deserve:
•Any John Waters film, which also feature Divine
•To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything. If you like Priscilla, you'll probably like this.
•Some Like It Hot. A comedy set in the 1920's that's an early influencer.
•PARIS IS BURNING. Yes, that's in capital letters because if you think that drag is all about looking fierce, lipsyncing and wigs, you need to watch Paris Is Burning. It documents the real struggle that drag queens faced in the 1980's, and it will warm your heart and break it.
And where would any queen be without music. Lipsyncing is something that many modern queens do in clubs, because all they need is their track and their talent. Some icons of music for lipsync include:
Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, Cher, Thelma Houston, Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, The Weather Girls, Whitney Houston, and more recently Britney Spears, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande and of course, Queen RuPaul.
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| Image from www.musictour.eu of Donna Summer |
From the ball scene, drag has majorly evolved since, wait for it, RuPaul's Drag Race, the front runner in bringing drag to a mainstream audience. Drag Race is something that has made drag something big in the world, allowing competitors to push themselves forwards into the mainstream, for example:
Violet Chachki and Miss Fame have recently attended New York Fashion Week, being photographed with Jeremy Scott.
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| Image from www.zimbio.com |
Adore Delano, Alaska Thunderfuck and Courtney Act have all released successful albums, especially Adore, whose album ‘Till Death Do Us Party’ reached number 3 on the dance/electronic album chart and number 59 on the billboard 200.
Bianca Del Rio has just finished her run of Rolodex of Hate shows, even though she won drag race 2 years ago.
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| Image from www.sdgln.com |
These are all things that would have been unheard of before drag race, and now drag queens are artists that are beginning to be taken seriously.
Inspiration has also come from drag race. So many more queens have started drag because of drag race, including Bob The Drag Queen (who is going to be on season 8). There are looks being recreated on the show, even animals are getting involved!
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| Credit in the top left- her pussy is on fire, if I do say so myself |
Then there’s the amazing artists, including make up artists who constantly are inspired by the drag race queens ( Rach has written a great article on Marlyn who can do amazing recreations of the queens).
So there we go. Drag queens are constantly evolving to become better, being inspired by art, films, music and fashion. Drag is an artform that will never die out as long as there is still inspiration for those involved.
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