It was back in 1993 when RuPaul became a household name with the dance hit "Supermodel" and its now iconic line, "You better work." The success led to a talk show on VH1, an endorsement deal with MAC Cosmetics as well as his 1995 autobiography, Lettin' It All Hang Out.
Even so, RuPaul took a break from the spotlight. But not anymore. Our favorite gender bender is back.
First there's the reality show RuPaul's Drag Race (think of it as America's Next Top Model but with a lot more tucking) on gay network Logo and VH1 and now, most recently, the release of a new album, Champion. We caught up with RuPaul the other day to find out about his wish list for guest judges on Drag Race, who he'd like to make music with and why people like stylist Rachel Zoe could be out of a job if RuPaul were in charge.
Your show is pretty similar to Top Model, except with a drag twist. Are we going to see Tyra Banks make a guest appearance on the show?
Our show is similar to so many shows. It's similar to American Idol and Top Chef and Top Design. All reality shows are very similar to one another. In my show we have a pretty big range of sampling from every genre. If we do get a second season, I would love to have Judge Judy on. She's my top pick. She is absolutely lovely. I just love someone who is so smart. I'd also love to get—my taste in stars is sort of off-centered—La Toya Jackson. I'm interested in people who are not necessarily on the radar.
Tell us about your new song, "Let's Turn the Night," and how it was inspired by Prop 8.
I've been involved in the gay rights movement, the human rights movement, for all of my life. And it's interesting to see young people, who have become a little apathetic and a little entitled, get involved the way they have. I live in West Hollywood, and the midnight [protest] marches down Santa Monica Boulevard are what inspired "Let's Turn the Night." I'm excited about all the attention Prop 8 has gotten.
Who is someone you'd like to work on an album with?
I'm really interested in working with a lot of the people that I came up with in the East Village in the '80s, like the B-52s, Deee-Lite, Ultra Naté. I really want to bring it full circle. I'd like to work with David Bowie.
Who do you think needs the most fashion help in Hollywood?
You know, I like when people make fashion mistakes. Life is in the mistakes. I wish that people would let go of all the stylists and do their own things and be more organic. I think it makes it boring when everybody has a stylist. It should not be that way. Now, everybody looks exactly the same. Everybody has the same highlights and the same shoes and the same this and that. It's way too uniform. I'd like to see people go off book for awhile.
—Additional reporting by Dahvi Shira