To celebrate RuPaul’s 60th birthday, here’s a ranking of his 60 greatest moments

RuPaul turned 60 today. That means he’s a Scorpio which makes sense – passionate, powerful, at times fiery (“Wake up, Pearl. Wake up!”). In his 60 years on this earth, he’s done a hell of a lot and, amazingly, RuPaul’s Drag Race, which is probably what we all know him for, has only been in the last 11 years.

Nevertheless, with this show he was able to bring drag culture into popular TV and with it came so many incredible stories from the LGBTQ+ community. From catchphrases to incredible outfits, makeup looks and wigs, to inspiring quotes and history-making changes, RuPaul has had so many amazing moments.

To celebrate this, here are 60 of RuPaul’s greatest moments – one for each year of his life.

60. That is the key to navigating this life—don’t take it too seriously. That’s when the party begins

Ru is full of great life mottos and advice and this is one of them. Considering his success, everyone wants to know what he sees as the ‘key to life’ – this is it and it makes a lot of sense.

59. This purple look

Purple is a colour favourite for Ru. But this dress was just something else. Look at it !!!!

58. All tea all shade, hunties

You know the whole “all tea, no shade” phrase that basically means I’m telling you the truth but it’s coming from a good place? RuPaul decided to cut the bullshit and just have all the truth and all the shade.

57. Can I get an amen? AMEN!!!

How could we not? The end of every show for the last 12 series finishes with this because Ru is god.

56. The tigerfish dress

55. Kitty Girl

One of his many songs. This one gets a mention because not only is it a great tune, it also birthed the “meow meow” verse from BeBe Zahara.

54. The sparkly bow lewk

Also, look at that hair.

53. Why it gotta be black?

52. There’s a cream for that

Ru has a lot of funny jokes that he repeats throughout the series and this one always manages a laugh. No matter how many times we hear it. No matter how predictable it is.

51. The little red dress look

This plus the Ursula-from-The-Little-Mermaid blonde wig was outstanding.

50. We’re all born naked and the rest is drag

Such a great phrase because it’s true! The rest is in fact drag. Also, the song that followed this was a big winner.

49. The fact that Drag Race has had 160 episodes, plus five All Star series, plus Celebrity Drag Race, PLUS Untucked!!!

He doesn’t stop, even in the midst of a pandemic we got two new series.

48. All pink, all polka dots

47. And then the matching suit when Drag Race won its first Emmy

 

46. Shantay you stay

A genius catchphrase, thank you Ru.

45. Sashay away

44. The RuPaul dress

What do you do when you’ve worn every colour dress there is? Wear one with your naked bod on it.

43. By the power vested in me…by me…

Why be modest when you can be honest?

42. Cover girl! Put the bass in your walk

The classique runway song.

41. That pink Karen wig that he made fashion

40. What did you just call me?!

A joke only RuPaul can get away with.

39. The RuPaul laugh of course

The laugh is so iconic someone made a two and a half min mash-up video of it.

38. This fluffy one

Apparently a controversial look when it appeared on the runway in All Stars 5. Fans said it was… too much. Too much?!

37. The rainbow kimono

The symbol of the LGBTQ+ community worn in the style of a mum in Lanzarote. Love it.

36. I feel like you’re being sabotaged by your inner saboteur

The classic line he feeds to any queen suffering from a confidence crisis.

35. Sissy That Walk

Another great song a la Ru. This is the one you put on and walk to alone in your room as a practise for how you’d catwalk if you ever got on the show. Right?

34. I can’t wait to see how this turns out

Ru says this and then casually lifts some old school mini binoculars on a stick. It’s so outrageous.

33. When you become the image of your own imagination, it’s the most powerful thing you could ever do

Another mantra we should all live by.

32. Call Me Mother

This is Ru’s second most played song on Spotify and that’s probably because he raps for his life the whole way through. One of the best lines being: “Body like WOW! Pussy bouta end this trial”.

31. The blue goddess look

In ‘The Future of Drag’ challenge, Ru shows up in this unbelievable classic-style gown. So ironic, so meta.

30. What it says on your driver’s license isn’t really who you are—you are something much greater than that

An inspiring quote he often says in interviews. In other words – you are bigger than the boxes society has put you in.

29. The metallic hooded dress

28. You know, the matrix says, “Pick an identity and stick with it. Because I want to sell you some beer and shampoo and I need you to stick with what you are so I’ll know how to market it to you.” Drag is the opposite. Drag says, “Identity is a joke”

Can I get an amen?

27. Flowers, sparkles, tulle

Ru wins the runway challenge every time but especially this time.

26. Good luck and don’t fuck it up

I say this to myself every morning.

25. The Peanut Butter song

You know the one that plays every time the Pit Crew twerk?

24. It’s very easy to look at the world and think, this is all so cruel and so mean. It’s important to not become bitter from it

23. The Supermodel song

Released in the early 90s. His production and music video budgets have got dramatically larger since, but this is still a fan favourite.

22. That triangle wig

Only he could make this work.

21. You better werk!

You better !!!

20. His Vanity Fair interview

And so the top 20 countdown begins with this. RuPaul doesn’t do many long interviews but last November he did this for Vanity Fair. A 15-minute video where he answers personal questions about himself, his fears and his open relationship.

19. The Catwoman dress

Hey kitty girl.

18. The Drag Race franchise representing over 10 countries

A franchise he began just 11 years ago now has a series in the UK, Holland, Spain, Brazil, Thailand and many more.

17. His best “bring back my girls” lines

A personal favourite being when he sang it and then said: “I got that from the Glee show”.

16. The golden Emmy look

Dressing like the many Emmys he owns.

15. The snake queen dress

This earns its place partly because Ru looked incredible and partly because this was the same runway when Roxxxy Andrews did the double wig reveal and Ru lost his shit so it’s carved into my brain.

To watch the full moment click here.

14. The series when he wore a different fedora each episode

This was season 8 and I swear as the episodes went on, the hats got bigger?

13. The fact his show has won 18 awards

Well done Ru x

12. The morphsuit goggle look

In the season 10 runway, ‘The Last Ball on Earth’, Ru showed up in this morphsuit-eque face mask, goggles and a massive blonde ponytail. It was so weird and so right.

11. Impersonating Beyoncè is not your destiny, child

Pure comedy gold.

10. The first ever look of RuPaul’s Drag Race ever

Top ten. Of course, it starts with Ru’s first runway look. Yikes.

9. She already done had herses

In a recent podcast, he explained that this line came from a cashier in a fast food shop who saw a lady take more than her fair share of food and so shouted: “She already done had herses!!!”.

8. His whole masked look for the season 12 finale

Considering we’re all used to RuPaul in stunning outfits, huge wigs and flawless makeup, it was a bit of a shock when he showed up to the season 12 finale out of drag and in a wrestling-mask style face covering.

Loads of rumours flew around as to why he did this. Some said it was a political nod to the pandemic, others said it was because he’s actually really shit at doing his makeup and the pandemic stopped his makeup artist helping him out.

7. The memes that followed this moment

In the words of Alyssa Edwards, when Ru showed up on screen, the whole of gay Twitter went: “What the fuck is going on in here on this day?!”. The memes that followed were outstanding.

6. Read U Wrote U

A great song but an even better moment because it allowed Roxxxy Andrews to truly express her feelings in the final of All Stars 2: “I’m Roxxxy Andrews and I’m here to make it clear, I know you love me baby, that’s why you brought me here”.

5. How’s your head?

The line RuPaul uses to distinguish the funny queens from the non-funny queens. If you’re ever in front of Ru and he asks you this, don’t say “Umm yeah, it’s fine. Why?”, say: “Haven’t had any complaints, yet” because he’s talking about BLOWJOBS.

4. He used his Emmy acceptance speeches to encourage people to register to vote

Which I really hope helped get rid of Trump because he would hate that.

3. He then dedicated two series to voting in the upcoming election

In both season 12 and All Stars 5 each episode ended with the link to follow to register to vote.

2. He brought drag culture, the LGBTQ+ community and so many incredible people and stories into popular TV

He is a symbol of hope and empowerment for a lot of people and that’s amazing.

1. If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gon’ love somebody else?

It has to be the winner. It’s the line that finishes every episode, the line you repeat to yourself when you’re drunk and your self-esteem has gone to shit, it’s the line that sits at the centre of all things Drag Race.

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