Claim: RuPaul is an American drag queen.

RuPaul Andre Charles -LRB- born November 17 , 1960 -RRB- , known professionally by the mononym RuPaul , is an American actor , drag queen , television personality , and singer/songwriter . Since 2009 , he has produced and hosted the reality competition series RuPaul 's Drag Race , for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award in 2016 .   RuPaul was born and raised in San Diego and later moved to Atlanta to study performing arts . He settled in New York City where he became a popular fixture on the nightclub scene . RuPaul achieved international fame as a drag queen with the release of his debut single , `` Supermodel -LRB- You Better Work -RRB- '' , which was included on his debut studio album Supermodel of the World -LRB- 1993 -RRB- . In 1996 , he became a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics , raising money for the Mac AIDS Fund and becoming the first drag queen to land a major cosmetics campaign . That year , he received his own talk show on VH1 , The RuPaul Show , which ran for two seasons before he began co-hosting the morning radio show on WKTU with Michelle Visage . He has had continued success as a recording artist , releasing eleven studio albums to date , including Foxy Lady -LRB- 1996 -RRB- , Champion -LRB- 2009 -RRB- , Glamazon -LRB- 2011 -RRB- , Born Naked -LRB- 2014 -RRB- and American -LRB- 2017 -RRB- .   As an actor , RuPaul has made appearances in films including Crooklyn -LRB- 1994 -RRB- , The Brady Bunch Movie -LRB- 1995 -RRB- , To Wong Foo , Thanks for Everything ! Julie Newmar -LRB- 1995 -RRB- , But I 'm a Cheerleader -LRB- 1999 -RRB- , Hurricane Bianca -LRB- 2016 -RRB- and the Netflix original series Girlboss -LRB- 2017 -RRB- . He has also published two books : Lettin ' It All Hang Out -LRB- 1995 -RRB- and Workin ' It ! RuPaul 's Guide to Life , Liberty , and the Pursuit of Style -LRB- 2010 -RRB- . Additionally , RuPaul 's Drag Race has produced nine seasons to date and has inspired several spin-off series , including RuPaul 's Drag U and RuPaul 's Drag Race : All Stars on LGBTQ network Logo TV . He is also featured as a host on series such as Skin Wars , Good Work and Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul .   RuPaul is noted among drag queens for his indifference toward the gender-specific pronouns used to address him -- both `` he '' and `` she '' have been deemed acceptable , as stated in his autobiography : `` You can call me he . You can call me she . You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee ; I do n't care ! Just as long as you call me . '' RuPaul has also played men in a number of roles , and makes public appearances both in and out of drag . In 1999 , RuPaul was awarded the Vito Russo Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for work in promoting equality in the LGBT community .