#23 – Bebe Zahara Benet
Not only did Bebe win the inaugural season of Drag Race in 2009, but she was also invited back for the spinoff series RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars in 2018, finishing in the top four. Since winning the first season, Bebe released three EP albums, landed the role of event planner on TLC’s Dragnificent, and even starred in the 2021 film Being Bebe documenting the last 15 years of her drag experience.
In a 2018 interview with MPR News, she had this to say about drag artistry “A lot of drag artists do exactly what – or even more than what – mainstream artists do. What we do in terms of our transformation, our music, our comedy, it’s just legit artistry.” You’re not wrong, Bebe!