Adore Delano (original) (raw)

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American drag performer and recording artist

Adore Delano
Adore Delano at DragCon 2024
Born (1989-09-29) September 29, 1989 (age 35)Glendora, California, U.S.
Other names Dani Noriega
Occupations Drag queensingeractress
Years active 2008–present
YouTube information
Personal information
Occupation(s) Drag queen, singer-songwriter, television personality
Years active 2007–present
Subscribers 527 thousand
Total views 83.37 million
Creator Awards100,000 subscribers
Last updated: 27 July 2023
Website adoredelano.com

Dani Noriega[1] (born September 29, 1989),[2] better known under the stage name Adore Delano,[3] is an American drag queen, singer-songwriter, and television personality. She appeared as a contestant on the sixth and seventh season of American Idol in 2008 and later competed as Adore Delano on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, placing in the final three. She then went on to compete on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, placing ninth after voluntarily leaving the competition. She has recorded and released three studio albums: Till Death Do Us Party (2014), After Party (2016), Whatever (2017), and one EP Dirty Laundry (2021).

Noriega was born to Bonnie Pimentel Noriega[4][5] in Glendora, California, raised in Azusa, California, and attended Sierra High School, a continuation school for at-risk teenagers.[6]

2008–2009: American Idol and early work

[edit]

In 2008, Noriega appeared on the seventh season of American Idol, making it to the semi-finals. She became known for her flamboyant personality and sassy rapport with the judges, notably a comment toward judge Simon Cowell, which later went viral. After watching Noriega on Idol, Rosie O'Donnell invited her to perform on her R Family Vacations cruise.[7] Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres also invited Noriega to be a guest on her show.[8] Before her appearance on American Idol and through high school, she lived as a transgender woman, but suppressed her gender identity in order to appear on the show.[9]

Performances:

Stage Theme Song choice Original artist Result
Audition Singer's Choice "Proud Mary" Creedence Clearwater Revival Advanced
Hollywood Singer's Choice "When I Need You" Albert Hammond Advanced
Top 24 The 1960s "Jailhouse Rock" Elvis Presley Safe
Top 20 The 1970s "Superstar" Delaney & Bonnie Safe
Top 16 The 1980s "Tainted Love" Gloria Jones Eliminated

Following American Idol, Noriega became a YouTube personality, performing skits in drag as Adore Delano, or Angel Baby, another drag character. In June 2009, she released the music video for the song "24/7," featuring sister Diamonique.[10]

2010–present: RuPaul's Drag Race and albums

[edit]

After seeing RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Raven perform at the nightclub Micky's in West Hollywood, Noriega was inspired to enter a drag competition at the club, which she won.[11] Noriega began performing as Adore Delano in Southern California.[12] Along with other RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, she walked the Marco Marco runway for Los Angeles Fashion Week in 2013.[13] In December 2013, Logo TV announced her as one of 14 drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.[14] She had previously competed for the season 5 fan-vote, ultimately losing to Penny Tration. Adore Delano eventually went on to win three challenges and made it to the final three. With Courtney Act, she finished as runner-up to season winner Bianca Del Rio.

Adore Delano in 2014

Following the finale of Drag Race, Adore Delano released the single "DTF" on May 20, 2014, as the lead single from her debut album Till Death Do Us Party. The album was released on June 3, 2014, charting at number three on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart,[15] 11 on the US Independent Albums chart,[16] and number fifty-nine on the Billboard 200.[17] She released music videos for the majority of its tracks, including "I Adore U", which peaked at 49 on the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs.[18] In November 2014, Adore Delano announced that a second album was in the works with an anticipated 2015 release date.[19]

Adore Delano's album After Party was set for release March 11, 2016.[20] "Dynamite", the first single, was released on February 26, 2016; "Take Me There", the second single, was released on March 10, 2016; and the "I.C.U.", was released on September 1, 2016.[21] Adore was one of 10 contestants on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars.[22] She chose to leave the show in the second episode for personal reasons. Whatever, her third studio album, was released on August 18, 2017.[23]

On April 4, 2017, Noriega filed a lawsuit against Producer Entertainment Group, her former management company, alleging that Noriega had earned 2.5millionoverthepastthreeyears,butonlyabout2.5 million over the past three years, but only about 2.5millionoverthepastthreeyears,butonlyabout300,000 was actually paid.[24] P.E.G. counter-sued in January 2018, alleging Noriega owed the company $180,000 in management fees. The suit was dismissed by a judge who awarded no money to either party.[25][26]

In 2019, Adore Delano appeared as a guest for the first challenge in the premiere of season 11 of Drag Race.[27] In June 2019, a panel of judges from New York magazine placed her sixth on its list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former Drag Race contestants.[28] In August, she was featured on the cover of Gay Times.[29] In December 2019, she joined the cast of the fourth season of Ex on the Beach.[30]

After her de-transition in order to appear on American Idol, she has said that she attempted to appease her feelings about her gender identity by living as a woman through Adore, but in her transgender "coming out" video, she stated that she "could not do it anymore."[9]

Noriega came out as bisexual at age 12, then gay.[9] In a 2012 interview, she said she is not opposed to dating women.[31] From 2017 to 2023, Noriega identified as non-binary and used any pronouns.[32] Noriega said that "gender isn't a real thing... it's just something they came up with to categorize and control people".[33]

She has been sober since 2021. In a video posted to Instagram on July 26, 2023, Noriega revealed that she had been taking estrogen for about three months and identified as transgender, using the pronouns she/her. She additionally announced that she has a gender-affirming surgical operation scheduled for November of the same year.[9]

Headlining

Co-headlining act

Promotional

Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year Title Director Role Notes Ref.
2015 Dragged Christopher Birk Self [35][_non-primary source needed_]
2015 TupiniQueens João Monteiro Documentary about the drag queen scene in Brazil [36]
  1. ^ "About". Adore Delano. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  2. ^ "Daniel Anthony Noriega". Ancestry Institute. Ancestry. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  3. ^ Parker, Lyndsey (April 16, 2014). "Ex-Idol Danny Noriega Lip-Synchs Paula Abdul for Paula Abdul". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  4. ^ "Daniel Anthony Noriega". Ancestry Institute. Ancestry. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  5. ^ @AdoreDelano (June 15, 2019). "HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO MY MAMA BONNIE!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Velazquez, Maritza (February 15, 2008). "Class notes: Interview with American Idol's Danny Noriega". San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Whittier Daily News. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013. For 18-year-old Noriega...
  7. ^ "Danny Noriega Gets Her First Job Offer – From Rosie O'Donnell!". People. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  8. ^ a b "And Who Could Ever Forget Little Danny Noriega on Ellen?". World of Wonder. April 25, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d Nolfi, Joey (July 26, 2023). "RuPaul's Drag Race and American Idol star Adore Delano comes out as trans: 'It feels so empowering'". Entertainment Weekly.
  10. ^ Stranksky, Tanner (June 10, 2009). "'American Idol' album Danny Noriega's new single '24/7': Too much to handle *TMTH*...ish". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  11. ^ Amabile, Michelle (December 10, 2013). "'American Idol' Alum Danny Noriega to Compete on 'RuPaul's Drag Race' (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 12, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  12. ^ Parker, Lyndsey (December 9, 2013). "'Idol' Alum Danny Noriega to Compete on 'RuPaul's Drag Race'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  13. ^ Avery, Dan (October 18, 2013). ""Drag Race" Queens Walk L.A. Fashion Week Runway For Marco Marco". Logo TV. Archived from the original on January 5, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  14. ^ Beard, Lanford (December 9, 2013). "'RuPaul's Drag Race': Check out the sickening season 6 supertease and meet the queens – Exclusive Video". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  15. ^ "Adore Delano Till Death Do Us Party Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  16. ^ "Adore Delano Till Death Do Us Party Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  17. ^ "Adore Delano Till Death Do Us Party Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  18. ^ "Adore Delano I Adore U Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  19. ^ Tim Winfred. "New Details Arise About Adore Delano's Upcoming Sophomore Album". Dragaholic. Archived from the original on July 29, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  20. ^ "After Party [Explicit]: Adore Delano: MP3 Downloads". Amazon. n.d. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  21. ^ "Listen to 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Star Adore Delano's 'After Party' Album: Exclusive Premiere". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  22. ^ Avery, Dan (June 17, 2016). "Logo Announces Contestants For "RuPaul's All Star Drag Race" Season 2". NewNowNext.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  23. ^ "Adore Delano Talks New Punk Album 'Whatever', the '27 Club' & Being Nonbinary: 'Gender Isn't a Real Thing'". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  24. ^ Delano, Adore (April 4, 2017). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Star Sues Managers for Stealing Millions". TMZ.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  25. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Star Adore Delano Countersued by Managers". TMZ.com. January 9, 2018. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  26. ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race star Adore Delano slapped with lawsuit in ongoing legal battle". PinkNews. January 11, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  27. ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' 11 episode 1 recap: Which queen was sent packing on 'Whatcha Unpackin'? [UPDATING LIVE BLOG]". Goldderby. February 28, 2019. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  28. ^ "The Most Powerful Drag Queens in America: Ranking the new establishment". New York. June 10, 2019. Archived from the original on June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  29. ^ Rudolph, Christopher. "Exclusive: Adore Delano Dishes on Her Favorite "RuPaul's Drag Race" Winner". NewNowNext.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  30. ^ "MTV Announces New Dating Show, Ex on the Beach: Peak of Love — with Your Favorite Reality Stars". People. October 24, 2019. Archived from the original on August 27, 2020. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  31. ^ Delano, Adore (April 16, 2012). My Coming Out Story With Mom!. Danny Noriega YouTube channel.
  32. ^ Adore Delano [@AdoreDelano] (November 28, 2019). "I constantly respond to people that I don't mind which pronouns they use while addressing me, but that doesn't move focus away from the importance of how others feel about her own pronouns. Respect all & remember it's really just about intent" (Tweet). Retrieved August 29, 2021 – via Twitter.
  33. ^ Voss, Brandon (August 21, 2017). "Adore Delano Talks New Punk Album 'Whatever', the '27 Club' & Being Nonbinary: 'Gender Isn't a Real Thing'". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  34. ^ Winfred, Tim. "Adore Delano Wins 'Drag Queen of the Year' LGBT Hero Award". Queerty. Archived from the original on April 22, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  35. ^ TupiniQueens. Facebook. January 9, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  36. ^ "TupiniQueens – Trailer Oficial". November 7, 2015. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2017 – via YouTube.
  37. ^ a b c "Adore Delano Rupaul's Drag Race Contestant – Season 6". Adore Delano official website. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 17, 2015.
  38. ^ Gremore, Graham (June 12, 2019). "Meghan McCain interviewed three drag queens on 'The View' for Pride and people weren't having it". queerty.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  39. ^ Smothers, Thairin (August 5, 2014). "WOWPresents Premiere: Let The Music Play with Adore Delano". World of Wonder. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  40. ^ Adore Delano on Hey Qween with Jonny McGovern. May 26, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2021 – via YouTube.
  41. ^ Love & Adore Delano 🤘 Portrait of a Queen. September 27, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2021 – via YouTube.
  42. ^ BESTIE$4 CA$H – Adore Delano and Chris Crocker. May 2, 2018. Retrieved December 26, 2019 – via YouTube.
  43. ^ The Pit Stop S3 E6 | Adore Delano Talks All the Drama | RuPaul's Drag All Stars. March 5, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via YouTube.
  44. ^ The Pit Stop S10 E3 | Adore Delano Spills the Tea | RuPaul's Drag Race. April 9, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via YouTube.
  45. ^ The Pit Stop S14 E07 | Monét X Change & Adore Delano Get Soapy | RuPaul's Drag Race. February 19, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via YouTube.
  46. ^ The Pit Stop S15 E04 🏁 Bianca Del Rio & Adore Delano Party! | RuPaul's Drag Race S15. January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via YouTube.
  47. ^ Street, Mikelle (August 3, 2020). "Trinity the Tuck Has A New Drag Competition Starting this Week". Out.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  48. ^ ADORE DELANO | Sissy That Talk Show with Joseph Shepherd | Episode 2. Moguls of Media. January 31, 2023. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
  49. ^ "RuPaul's "Oh No She Better Don't" Official Music Video feat. The Cast of Rupaul's Drag Race Season 6". April 2, 2014. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2017 – via YouTube.
  50. ^ RuPaul's Sissy That Walk Official Music Video. May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2015 – via YouTube.
  51. ^ Mean Gays – Courtney Act. May 15, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2015 – via YouTube.
  52. ^ Alaska Thunderfuck - Hieeee [Official]. YouTube. June 8, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  53. ^ Alaska Thunderfuck – The T (feat. Adore Delano) [Official]. October 13, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016 – via YouTube.
  54. ^ "Every celebrity cameo in Taylor Swift's 'You Need To Calm Down' music video". PopBuzz. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2019.