RuPaul Talks Drag Race and Music

RuPaul recently sat down for an interview with Billboard. Here are some of the highlights:

First off, a condragulations is in order: nearly a million viewers tuned into the season nine premiere of Drag Race, making it the most-watched episode in the history of the series and doubling last season’s debut. Were you shocked?
"No, I wasn't shocked because we've moved over to VH1, which has 93 million homes. It's a lot more eyeballs that can watch our show. I've been out promoting our show for years and years to get people to tune in on Logo, but not a lot of people have Logo. And if they have it, it's usually one of the most expensive cable packages around, so it was quite a feat. We had great success at Logo, but I knew it was more accessible to people on VH1"

Lady Gaga stopped by for the premiere. She was brilliant. What’s your favorite Gaga song?
"You know, I believe it's the one I did with her called "Fashion." I love that song. Also, there's this other one that's part of this unreleased package that floated around the internet called "Nothing On But The Radio." I don't know the story behind it. I have a whole album of B-sides and unreleased Lady Gaga stuff. I don't know how I got it.

You know, I'm a music freak. I'm sort of like the Underground Railroad of music people. They send me things and I'll send them things because we love music so much."

Lady Gaga seemed genuinely touched seeing the queens re-creating her iconic looks. Now that the episode has aired, were there any off-camera moments you wish the audience had seen?
"I think the camera pretty much captured the vibe of the room. She was right in her element: She loves dressing up, she loves playing with identities and characters. She relates to that little nerdy kid outcast who finds freedom in performance and taking on different identities. I think the episode really captured how genuinely moved she was.

Last season, you had a similar runway challenge: All the queens wore Madonna-inspired looks. When can we expect The Queen of Pop to be a guest on the show?
"Well you know, Madge doesn't really do that much television. Unless she's promoting something, and then she does the big shows, like Carpool Karaoke. We always ask. We always ask Cher. We always ask everyone."

What did you think of Bowie's Blackstar?
"It's beautiful. It just made me miss the fact that he couldn't do more. In hearing that album and its jazz undertones, I thought, "Oh my god." I would have loved to hear him do a standards album or a proper jazz vocals album. Even singing some of the jazz standards. I just loved him so much. I still love him so much."

Let's talk about your new album, American. There's no pussyfooting: It's a call to arms in this political climate. Your music is generally playful, so what made you decide to make this bold statement?
"It was really from my heart. In years of doing it, you learn to use this instrument — this heart, mind, body, spirit — as a way to channel feelings to come through you. And that's exactly what happened.


I was so disappointed and despondent after the election. The American dream — the American drive that we stand for—- had been so deluded and tainted by this divisive entity. And that's exactly what came out of me: this album. I was angry; I chronicled my process of being lost and wanting to get away from it all. And then coming back and saying, "You know what? I’m back. I’m ready to fight the hard fight.""

Read the full interview at Billboard.