American drag queen, television host and producer RuPaul Charles was BOTD in 1960. Born and raised in San Diego, California he survived a turbulent childhood, including his mother setting their house on fire after discovering his father’s infidelity. He and his sister moved to Atlanta, Georgia, in their teens, where they studied theatre. He became a fixture of the Atlanta nightclub scene, performing as a drag queen and dancer, making regular appearances at the Pyramid Club in New York City and the Wigstock drag festival. He achieved international stardom in 1993 with his debut single Supermodel (You Better Work) from his ambitiously-titled album Supermodel of the World. The following year, he became the first drag queen to land a major cosmetics campaign, with MAC Cosmetics, appearing in full drag with the text “I am the MAC Girl”. In 1996, he launched his own TV talk show The RuPaul Show, with celebrity guests including Cher, Diana Ross, Bea Arthur, Dionne Warwick, Cyndi Lauper, Olivia Newton-John, Pete Burns and Chi Chi La Rue. After a fallow period, he re-emerged in 2009 with the reality TV series RuPaul’s Drag Race, leading aspiring drag queens through a series of competitions (including “LipSynch for Your Life”) to be crowned Drag Superstar. The show quickly achieved global cult status, winning multiple Emmys and syndicated worldwide, and was widely praised for increasing LGBTQ visibility. He shrewdly expanded the Drag Race empire to the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries around the world, while continuing his music recording career and making occasional appearances in film and television. In 2022, he won a Tony Award as one of the producers for the Black queer-themed musical A Strange Loop. He married long-term partner Georges LeBar in 2017, with whom he co-owns a 60,000-acre ranch in Wyoming.