Not just a drag queen, but the queen of drag, RuPaul took to the stage at the Manchester Opera House as part of his book tour for his fourth book “The House of Hidden Meanings“. Bringing a lecture and TED Talk vibe, RuPaul shines with love, honesty, and integrity as he strips it all back and stuns with his pure stage presence. This is RuPaul as we’ve never seen him before, and yet his infallible icon energy is completely undeniable.
Going into this, we weren’t sure what to expect. This is the legendary drag queen, RuPaul, who completely knows how to put on a show and has been doing so since he launched onto the scene with the incredibly addicting 1992 hit “Supermodel (You Better Work)”. He rode the wave of drag queen stardom in the ’90s, going on to collaborate with the likes of Elton John and Martha Wash, went on to become a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics where he became the first drag queen to land a major cosmetics deal, went on to host his own TV show titled The RuPaul Show on VH1 in 1996, and also hosted a radio show alongside Michelle Visage.
Fast forward a decade and he created his own TV reality show competition in 2009, titled RuPaul’s Drag Race. The show is now in its 16th season, has won multiple awards, and has launched several spin-off shows as well as a variety of International series editions with over 15 different country versions, with more to come. He really has gone on to conquer the world with Drag Race, which only made this book tour even more of a must-see.
Going into this, we knew it was a book tour and that it was RuPaul like we’d never seen him before—as the event description stated. Reviews from the US also suggested an energy like no other and venues full of good vibes, something that was totally up our street and Mama Ru certainly didn’t disappoint.
Larger than life, with whole decades of experience, we can all learn a lot from RuPaul. Positivity and self-love have always been a mantra from this international star, with Drag Race not only promoting the belief in the fact that “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” but also not letting your inner saboteur take over. However, this positivity that he unleashes onto the world hasn’t always been his personality, and this is something he delves into within his new memoir.
Chatty, expressive, and unforgettable, RuPaul chats to us like we’re his family, like we’re all his children—well we don’t call him “Mother” for no reason! Opening the show with him revealing how much he loves “MANchester”, we hear his stories including his experiences in this city—from him working back in the ’90s to him hosting RuPaul’s Drag Race UK which now has 5 winners and 2 UK vs the World winners—his childhood, and how he lived his excitement through his husband, Georges LeBar.
He delves into how he had detached himself from reality and how it wasn’t until he went through therapy and sobriety that he managed to tackle his trauma and prevent it from continuing to make an impact on his current life. He mentions various stories that he touches upon in the book, and how looking back on them has allowed him to become the person he is today. Is it any wonder that Drag Race is full of so much positivity and good vibes?
One main takeaway from the book tour show is his mention of how we’re all looking after our 5/7-year-old kid versions of ourselves who were innocent children within the world, back in the day, and that that kid is inside us all. Sometimes we try to pass that kid on to other people to look after but it really comes down to us to look after that person inside us, that child who just wants to live life to the fullest. We’ve heard him say similar things about the kid within us on Drag Race, but there’s nothing more impactful than hearing him talk about this very thing, right on stage, just a few feet from you.
We don’t know how many tears we’ve shredded on Drag Race whenever RuPaul holds up a framed picture of one of the drag queens when they were children and asks them what they want to say to that kid.
He ended his set by reading out some questions he had apparently received on X (formerly Twitter) from some cards about his new memoir, “The House of Hidden Meanings”. This allowed him to focus on the book itself, rather than the constant tangents that we can’t help but love—this entertainer could talk for days on end, and we bet we’d still be there listening to him.
Before leaving the stage, he asked for the audience lights to be turned on so he could see us all. He introduced us to some of the drag queens in the audience, with Irish queen Ariana Grindr making a huge impression on RuPaul and the entire audience—he said he’ll be looking out for her audition tape, so we expect her to appear on Drag Race sometime in the future.
RuPaul is an icon, a legend, and an inspiration to us all. Stripped back away from the glitz, the glam, the fashion, the dancing, the performance, and the runway, RuPaul shines in a completely different way. Unleashing his words of wisdom to us all, something only a fair few manage to receive in person. This global superstar touches all of our hearts and empowers us all to believe in ourselves, to be the powerful beings that he knows us to be, and to not let the past or even the global issues that the LGBTQ+ community are currently facing, diminish our spark.
While this book tour was in promotion of his new memoir “The House of Hidden Meanings”, it came off more as an inspiring TED Talk, and we were totally here for it! His fourth book release is currently available to buy from a variety of stores including Amazon and Waterstones, in hardback, audiobook, and e-book, published by Fourth Estate and HarperCollins Publishers on March 5, 2024. We expect a paperback release to be revealed towards the end of the year, possibly.