Drag and the Art of the Lip-Sync: How Queens Entertain

There is more to being a drag queen than a freshly beaten face, a blinding sequin outfit, and an impeccable tuck. A significant part of drag performances are powerful lip-syncs complete with kicks, splits, and death drops.

Written by Olivia Abercrombie

Illustrated by Krista McLeod

Singers’ use of lip-syncing has been a hotly debated topic for decades. To date, some major pop culture moments resulted from lip-syncing controversies, from Justin Bieber at Coachella to Beyonce’s performance of the National Anthem at Presidential Inauguration Ceremony in 2013. While there have been arguments on whether or not it discredits the performer’s talent, some consider it an art.  After all, playing a song and perfectly mouthing the words to it while pretending to perform is a different kind of talent. 

However, a subsection of the entertainment community makes its living off the art of lip-syncing: drag queens. In 1980s New York, as the AIDS crisis hit the LGBTQ+ community, many sought solace in the Drag Ball scene. The modern-day drag queen is a product of this ball culture that gives the LGBTQ community a creative outlet and a home in the form of drag mothers and drag houses, who took care of those who were kicked out of their homes for being queer. Drag families compete at balls together and build authentic familial connections by learning from each other, innovating their drag, and having people to depend on as their new family. They also flex their creativity by creating stunning looks for walking in the ball with a specific theme or category each night. Queens learn to sew or hot glue together couture outfits on little to no budget to impress the judges and hopefully receive tens across the board.  

RuPaul Charles, one of the most famous drag queens of all time, debuted her first album, Supermodel of the World, in 1993, with single “Supermodel (You Better Work)” peaking at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Also, the following year RuPaul became a model for MAC Cosmetics which furthered her mainstream popularity and allowed her to start The RuPaul Show, where she interviewed celebrities with co-host Michelle Visage on VH1 in 1996. 

After about ten years of trying and not succeeding to recreate the popularity of her debut album,  the self-proclaimed “queen of drag” premiered RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2009, which upon its airing was a niche reality show that the LGBTQ community claimed as its own and used to create a world of slang, memes, and drag stars. Although the show started with humble beginnings, each subsequent season garnered a bigger audience, famous celebrity judges, and more talented queens. This growth has created a Drag Race “extended universe,” with All-Star seasons, spinoffs in the United Kingdom, Canada, Thailand, Holland, Australia/New Zealand, Spain, and three more rumored in Italy, the Philippines, Brazil, also in the works. In fact, Drag Race was named the number one most social cable program of 2021, as the community continues to gain a large fan presence on social media and the art of drag becomes more represented in mainstream media. 

The show challenges queens for the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar.'' The contestants compete in challenges ranging from clothing design and acting to singing, and most importantly, lip-syncing. Each episode concludes with the two lowest-ranked queens of the week duking it out in RuPaul’s self-described “Lip-Sync for Your Life,” lip-sync battle typically to a song by a gay icon.

As the show has grown into a larger audience, queens have made a name for themselves and kickstarted their careers by achieving an iconic lip-sync moment on the big stage.The art of lip-syncing is subjective, and everyone has their favorite performances or queens. There is a subsection of the internet dedicated to ranking the best and worst of Drag Race lip-syncs. As a Drag Race fan who has seen every season multiple times, to my roommate’s dismay, and watched breakdown’s of the top lip-sync moments of all time, I have my own very subjective opinion on the best of the best lip-sync assassins. 

Without further ado, let’s dive into some of the most notable lip-sync moments in Drag Race herstory:

Roxxxy Andrews vs. Alyssa Edwards

“Whip My Hair” — Season 5

Alyssa Edwards is known as a lip-sync power house and a true dancing queen. She is professionally trained as a dancer and even stars in a show, Dancing Queen, dedicated to her Beyond Belief Dance Company. In her career on Drag Race, Alyssa has been in seven lip-syncs and won or tied in four of those appearances, so she is tough competition. In this performance Alyssa took Willow’s advice and then some. She whipped her hair back and forth, left and right, up and down in a dizzying fashion.

Roxxxy Andrews knew going up against Alyssa would be a challenge so she introduced a shocking moment that has shaped the Drag Race lip-sync forever. As the performance begins, Roxxxy reaches up to pull off her wig and reveals another wig underneath it, leaving the judges gagged. This set the tone for the rest of the performance as Roxxxy gives us hairography that not only tests her wig glue but could also leave her needing a neck brace after her dedication to vigorous  hair-whipping. This never-before-seen moment helped her stand out next to lip-sync powerhouse, Alyssa, forcing RuPaul to save both queens from elimination. Roxxxy’s innovative reveal paved the way to become an integral part of Drag Race and the drag scene and added a new element of surprise to every queen’s repertoire. 

Alyssa Edwards vs. Tatianna

“Shut Up and Drive” — All Stars 2

Once again, Alyssa proves she is the dancing queen in debatably the most iconic lip-sync battle of all time. In this performance, the two queens were fighting to gain a spot back in the competition. The stakes were high, and the wigs were even higher. Both queens gave us their best superhumanly flexible, bone-bending moments by hitting death drops and backbends left and right. They hit the ground in sync, making this lip-sync feel more like a choreographed dance than a battle. This was a shock coming from Tatianna, as the other queens didn’t see her as a lip-sync threat until she tied with Alyssa to regain her place in the competition. 

Adore Delano vs. Trinity K Bonet

“Vibeology” — Season 6

Adore Delano is an edgy non-conformist queen who knows how to put on a show. For this battle she wore an all-black leather bodysuit and an ‘80s-inspired teased-up wig that accentuated her already huge personality. She gives a sensual performance, complete with flips and some intense floor work. Trinity played off of Adore’s energy, and the two queens gave us moments where they danced together instead of against one another — a rare sight on Drag Race.  Trinity showed us that she is a true lip-sync assassin by filling her moments with sharp lines, striking musicality, staggering flexibility and using the whole stage to her advantage. To add to the pressure, the queens were not only lip-syncing for their lives, but they had to perform Paula Abdul’s “Vibeology” in front of Paula herself. Adore narrowly won out in the end, but both queens showed us what they could do on the big stage and made it known that they are forces to be reckoned with.

Katya vs Kennedy Davenport

“Roar” — Season 7

In the performance, seasoned pageant queen Kennedy Davenport put on a show as extravagant as her reputation with splits, kicks and drops galore. Not only did she work the entire stage, but she managed to hit the floor by the judges panel as well. At the song’s chorus, Kennedy jumped off the stage and landed in a split on the ground. Then she gave an emotional ending by using Katy Perry’s lyrics to plead with the judges so she could keep her spot in the competition. Katya also did not disappoint in this number, opting for a more subdued (but passionate) showing. Her lower energy performance could be attributed to the fact that she is not a fan of Katy Perry’s music. Nonetheless, to try and save herself, Katya clearly feels the emotion in the song and conveyed that passion with her facial expressions. However, she didn’t forget to show her lip-sync chops and hit a split to follow up Kennedy’s wild stage-jump moment. Kennedy’s boundary-breaking performance won her the battle, but Katya still put up a strong fight against the lip-sync powerhouse.

Laganja Estranga vs Trinity K. Bonet

“Physical” — All Stars 6

Before the battle even began, season six weed queen Laganja marks her return to the Drag Race stage by dropping from the rafters and landing in a split, instantly establishing herself as the lip-sync assassin of the episode. In all green attire (reminding us of her favorite herbal pastime), Laganja puts on the performance of a lifetime. Using the whole stage to her advantage, she shows us that she took Dua Lipa’s song’s message to heart, which she discusses in an interview regarding her return to the Drag Race stage, and demonstrates just how physical the daughter of legendary dancing queen Alyssa Edwards can get in a performance. She gives us a backbend, and an upside-down lip-sync moment before the song’s chorus hits. She then goes into a sequence of shocking splits, jaw-dropping clothing reveals, impressive head stands, unbelievable floor work, and her signature death drops that completely steal the show.

Even though Trinity never stood a chance against the impeccable performance that Laganja put on, she still gave us a classic, polished performance in a pastel leather look. She starts off slow and seductive — never breaking eye contact with the judges — and then hits hard at the chorus with some solid footwork and larger-than-life ballet-inspired moves. She gets some laughs with a classic floor slide move and then busts out a fan as a prop to wrap up the song. Both queens put their heart and soul into this performance, making it one of the most iconic in recent years. 

BenDeLaCreme vs Aja LaBeija

“Anaconda” — All Stars 3

Aja put on a fantastic performance, featuring hard-hitting moves and enough drops to prove she’s got Megan knees. She hit a spinning jump into splits right at the chorus, an incredibly difficult move, and gave some floor work to prove she still had energy left over after her show-stopping challenge performance. Aja gave us the hot girl energy that Nicki Minaj notoriously exudes with her sparkly bodysuit and the sensuality in her dance moves while she continued to surprise the judges with impressive stunts. This lip-sync solidified Aja’s star power and allowed her to become a part of the legendary House of LaBeija. 

Aja held her own, but the terminally delightful Michelle Visage look-alike BenDeLaCreme proved that a winning lip-sync performance does not always have to be filled with gymnastic feats. DeLa took a comedic spin on Minaj’s “Anaconda.” Donning a nude bodysuit with tassel pasties, DeLa takes the lyrics and gets silly with sassy head nods and a faux-disapproving wagging finger. Instead of a crisp choreographed routine, she hits us with her goofiest moves and tops it off with an angry yell at the judges with the lyrics “f-ck them skinny bitches.” RuPaul and Michelle couldn’t contain their laughter, winning DeLa the lip-sync.

RuPaul’s Drag Race is a boundary-breaking show paving the way for inclusivity and acceptance across the globe. Not only is the show an entertaining celebration of the art of drag, but it is educating younger generations on LGBTQ+ trailblazers and queer icons. The show has grown to a global audience and continues to change and develop as society becomes more accepting.  However, one thing that will never change is that a unique lip-sync performance will put a drag queen’s name in herstory books. As RuPaul says, “Good luck and don’t f--k it up!”