Kameron Michaels

Dane Young[2][4] (born July 23, 1986),[1][3] known professionally as Kameron Michaels, is an American drag performer who came to international attention after competing on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Originally from Columbia, Tennessee, she began her career in Nashville, where she performed locally from 2004 or 2005 until her appearance on television. Since her season aired in 2018, Michaels has been a staple of several domestic and international tours that feature Drag Race contestants, including Werq the World, Christmas Queens, and Drive 'N Drag. She has also appeared on a number of web series produced by World of Wonder. In June 2019, she released "Freedom", her debut single and music video.

Kameron Michaels
Kameron Michaels at RuPaul's DragCon LA, 2019
Born
Dane Young[1][2]

(1986-07-23) July 23, 1986[1][3]
Massillon, Ohio, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other names
  • The Bodybuilder Barbie
  • Arianna St. Claire
OccupationDrag queen
Years active2004 or 2005 – present
Known for
Websitekameronmichaels.com

Michaels identifies as a muscle queen, that is, a drag queen whose aesthetic embraces a built, muscular body. Because of her physique, she is known by the nickname "The Bodybuilder Barbie".[5] She is also noted for her tattoos, which cover her forearms, chest and part of a leg.

Early life

Young was born an only child in Massillon, Ohio, where he lived until he was five years old.[6][7] He briefly resided in Michigan, after which he moved to Columbia, Tennessee, where he spent the majority of his youth.[8][9] He realized he was gay in his early teens, and he came out to his mother at age 14.[10] She reacted supportively.[11] In high school, he was bullied for his sexuality and body language, and he developed introverted tendencies in response to this.[12][13] He studied photographs and videos of himself to identify effeminate gestures that he then learned to modify or avoid.[14]

When he was 18, Young began traveling to Nashville on the weekends, and he took up work as a go-go dancer and cocktail server on the local scene.[15][16][17] It was there that he first came into contact with drag queens and subsequently began performing in drag.[16][18] Because he felt more at home in Nashville's queer community than in the conservative environment of Columbia, he relocated to Nashville when he was 21.[15][19]

Career

Beginnings and style
I always say that my drag is a mix of old-school and new drag. I grew up around old-school drag—fringe costumes and dance. Dancing is a big thing for me.... I am definitely influenced by that, [but I also] take part in crazy makeup sometimes and newer songs. I don't do a whole lot of old-school stuff besides my costumes.

–Michaels, in an interview with Dallas Voice[12]

At the start of Young's drag career, a more seasoned performer made his costumes, but he taught himself how to use makeup.[12] He initially took the drag name Arianna St. Claire.[20][21][22] After a few months, he switched the name to Kameron Michaels, as he wanted an androgynous first name paired with a last name used by no other drag queen in Nashville.[6][21] He took inspiration for his aesthetic from cinema and video games, and he describes his drag style as hyper-feminine.[7][16][23] After developing a gym habit in his mid-20s, he became known as a muscle queen due to his built physique.[14][24][25] Before appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race, Young worked full time as a hair stylist, doing drag only on weekends.[9][20] He performed regularly at Play Dance Bar in Nashville.[6]

RuPaul's Drag Race
Michaels on tour in 2018

Michaels auditioned for the seventh season of Drag Race in 2014, but she did not receive a callback.[26] She then auditioned for the tenth season in an effort to overcome a difficult breakup.[20][27] On her audition tape, she highlighted that, as a muscle queen, she was a type of character the show had never seen before.[12] She was selected to participate, and her season aired in 2018. She finished as a runner-up, together with Eureka O'Hara, behind winner Aquaria.[28][29]

Some media outlets and fellow contestants dubbed Michaels the season's lip sync assassin,[30][31] as she lip-synced for her life four times in a row without being sent home; no other contestant has survived more than three lip syncs.[4][31][32] She also won the finale's first Lip Sync for the Crown but lost the second one to Aquaria, bringing her lip sync total to six.[33] On the show, she was noted for her introversion, which set her apart from her competitors.[34][35] Following criticism she received in the season's reunion episode for appearing more extroverted on social media than in person, Michaels learned about ambiversion. She has stated that this description fits her well.[14]

Music and tours

As part of her season's final challenge, Michaels and the other top four contestants wrote and recorded their own verses for RuPaul's song "American".[36] The song reached number 12 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart.[36][37] In summer 2018, Michaels participated in the 10s Across the Board Tour, traveling around the U.S. with other queens from season 10.[38] Later that year, she recorded the track "Let It Snow" on Christmas Queens 4, a compilation album featuring Christmas songs sung by former Drag Race contestants.[39][40] Following the album's release, she embarked on the Christmas Queens tour of Europe in November and December 2018.[41] She then returned to Europe for a solo tour in January 2019.[42] The following month, she released a lip sync music video in which she performs Mark Ronson's "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart".[43] In June of that year, she released her debut single, "Freedom", and its corresponding music video.[44][45]

Since the second half of 2018, Michaels has traveled around the Americas,[46][47][48] Asia,[46][47] Australia[49] and Europe[46][47][50] for several legs of Werq the World, and she appears in a docuseries about that tour.[13][51] As of mid-2020, Michaels was a staple of RuPaul's Drag Race Live!, a residency show in Las Vegas.[52][53][54] She will co-star in RuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue, an upcoming VH1 miniseries about the live show that is set to premiere on August 21, 2020.[53][55][56] In May 2020, Michaels participated in a live-streamed version of Werq the World to raise money for drag entertainers out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[54][57][58] In July and August 2020, Michaels is on tour with Drive 'N Drag, a drive-in drag show held outdoors to accommodate social distancing restrictions imposed due to COVID-19.[59][60][61]

Personal life
Kameron Michaels (center) in 2019

Young is openly gay.[62] He began visiting the gym with a boyfriend who pressured him to stop doing drag.[5][14][16] After they broke up, he continued to focus on building muscle and returned to the drag scene, where his body drew criticism from others in the industry.[14][27][63] In the months that followed the airing of Drag Race season 10, his workout routine temporarily fell by the wayside as he adjusted to life on tour.[12][64][65]

Young's arms and hands, as well as his chest, neck and left leg, bear tattoos that are visible when he is both in and out of drag.[63][66] When asked about them in an interview, he said, "I started getting tattooed when I was around 26 or 27. All my tattoos are by the same artist, and they were all done in about a year and a half. [They depict] favorite movies from my childhood and sentimental things in my life."[64] His left arm contains imagery from Jurassic Park and Aliens, and he has a scarab beetle across his chest.[12][66] Of the latter, he said, "I got that when I started working out and going to the gym, because the scarab represents kind of a rebirth. That was me finding out who I was meant to be and really doing things for myself ... taking time for myself."[12]

In July 2020, Young deleted much of the content from his Kameron Michaels profiles on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, coincidentally on the day that RuPaul did the same; this generated discussion and speculation among Drag Race fans and followers.[67][68][69] Young later stated that he had removed the posts during a period of mental distress, which he attributed to prolonged time spent home alone due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to reflection about the ongoing George Floyd protests.[70][71] He subsequently restored some of the content.[70]

Discography

Singles

As lead artist
Title Year Album Ref(s)
"Let It Snow" 2018 Christmas Queens 4 [40]
"Freedom" 2019 Non-album single [44][45]
Title Year Album Ref
"American"
(RuPaul feat. Aquaria, Kameron Michaels, Eureka O'Hara and Asia O'Hara)		 2018 Non-album single [36]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Ref(s)
2018 RuPaul's Drag Race (season 10) Contestant (runner-up) [32][34]
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked (season 10) Herself
2020 RuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue Herself [53]

Internet series
Year Title Role Producer Notes Ref(s)
2018 Gaymer Guys Guest host World of Wonder [72]
Fashion Photo RuView Guest host World of Wonder [73][74]
Hey Qween! Guest Jonny McGovern [21]
How to Makeup Herself World of Wonder [75]
Bestie$ for Ca$h Herself World of Wonder With Eureka O'Hara [76]
2018–present Can Do Queens Co-host World of Wonder With Asia O'Hara [77]
2020 Working Out Is a Drag Featured guest World of Wonder [65]
Werq the World Herself World of Wonder [13][51]

Music videos
Year Title Notes Ref
2019 "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart"
(Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus)		 Lip sync video [43]
"Freedom" [44]

References

Ctiations
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Audiovisual sources
Shepherd, Joseph (July 16, 2020). "Kameron Michaels: Exposed (A Full Interview with Kameron)" (YouTube video). Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2020.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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