Drag Race Queens Are Making Six Figures
Grab Your Wig And Get To The Bank!
When I was a young, rebellious teenager, I found myself at home in the gay bars in my hometown. Boystown was the place to be, if you weren’t there…you weren’t anyone. How I’m glad those thoughts have grown with maturity.
During my days of wanting to break into the gay-party scene, I was befriended by drag queens immediately. Through the years, I’ve maintained friendships with these fabulous queens. I’ve empathized with their success and struggles. To this day, I am a better person from bonding with these queens. They led me to understand that they are just entertainers. They are humans with emotion and dreams. When I was a teenager, most were destined to sing to only a bar in their current city. Now, with the help of media, these queens are on global tours. However, I know some are still hustling to pay their rent.
Still to this day, I witness social media updates with queens complaining of the costs of their careers. Some complain that you’ll never make money unless you become a contestant on the Emmy Nominated, RuPaul’s Drag Race. There isn’t a day you won’t see someone claiming to support local drag queens on social media. I mean, they are the people you’ll eventually see on television.
It appears that the monetary struggles of drag queens are almost over!
According to Billboard, you can get a huge paycheck for being a drag queen!
…If you’re on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Jacob Slane, Associate Manager at Producer Entertainment Group, is standing firm behind the queens he represents as a manager. Who is his clientele, you ask? Bob The Drag Queen, Willam, Katya, Alaska ThunderF*ck, Sharon Needles, Peppermint, and Jinx Monsoon. Slane spoke to Billboard on the ridiculous amount of talent…and money, his queens are making.
“When touring, recording, merchandise and endorsements are factored in, top queens are earning in the low to mid-six figures annually. Some even higher. Having an experienced team behind them to cultivate the best deals makes a big difference, obviously. I remember music meetings where we would take artists in to meet with a label or a radio promotion company and they would say, ‘This music is great. But can you release it as boy or not in drag?’ This wasn’t very long ago. It was probably only two or three years ago. Nobody in the industry was taking [the drag queens] seriously.”
What a mistake Hollywood made on these queens! Alaska, Trixie Mattel, and Adore Delano have broke onto the Billboard Hot 100 list. These once hopeful, smiling faces in drag are beginning to conquer the world.
“A top drag performer in today’s market is working in mid-sized venues around the world, between 2,000-5,000 capacity, up to six nights a week. For group tours it can be bigger. Anyone familiar with the touring industry can do the math: drag has become a viable, lucrative entertainment career path. However, it is still crucial for an artist to have professional, qualified representation that understands this very specialized market.”
I am thrilled that these queens are getting the paycheck they deserve. They have been inspiring and continue to be powerful voices for the LGBTQ Community.
I hope that the aspiring and working queens continue to cannon ball through the industry. We have your backs! You are the future. You are beautiful. Hard work always pays off. If there’s anyone busting their ass…it’s a Drag Queen.
Let’s continue to support our local queens. They are the untapped talent that will eventually become a household name. Rock on, ladies!
“May the best woman…win.”
Check out Billboard’s full article here!
