Peppermint American actress, singer, songwriter, television personality, drag queen and activist Date of Birth: 01.01.1979 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Career Beginnings
2. Drag Race Success and Beyond
3. Music Career
4. Broadway Debut and Acting Roles
5. Activism and Advocacy

Peppermint: The Trailblazing Actress, Singer, Drag Queen, and Activist

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Peppermint, born in Hershey, Pennsylvania and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, initially felt pressure to conform to societal gender expectations. She transitioned after relocating to New York City and came out in 2012, prior to her appearance on RuPaul's Drag Race.

As a child, Peppermint began performing in youth theater, taking on roles with Opera Delaware, Delaware Children's Theatre, and The Brandywiners Community Theatre. She continued acting throughout high school, where she also participated in the cheerleading squad. She also worked as a makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics.

Peppermint moved to New York to study musical theater at AMDA. During college, she booked gigs at the Tunnel's Kurfew nightclub, eventually becoming an integral part of New York's nightlife scene. She began recording music in 2005 for Jonny McGovern's mixtape Jonny McGovern Presents: This is NYC, Bitch! East Village Soul Mixtape, featuring the song "Servin' It Up." The song was later released as Peppermint's debut single in 2006.

Drag Race Success and Beyond

Peppermint made her first public appearance as a trans woman on The Daily Show segment "The Trans Panic Epidemic" in April 2016. In 2017, she was announced as one of the fourteen contestants on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. While other transgender women had competed on Drag Race before, she was the first to be out at the time the show aired, having come out in 2012.

Peppermint won the Roast Challenge and earned two bottom-two placements during the season, lip-syncing to Madonna's "Music" and the Village People's "Macho Man" and winning both times. Her lip-sync performances earned her the nickname "Lipsync Assassin." She ultimately placed second to winner Sasha Velour, after they both lip-synced to Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right But It's Okay (Thunderpuss Remix)."

Music Career

Peppermint's debut studio album, Hardcore Glamour, was self-released in 2009. In 2011, Sherry Vine and Peppermint released a parody of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé's song "Telephone" titled "Make Me Moan." Following the viral success of the music video, Peppermint later released other parody songs, including a cover of Azealia Banks' "212" called "21/12." Her song "If I Steal Your Boyfriend" was featured in the 2011 film Eating Out 5: The Open Weekend.

In 2017, Peppermint released a six-track EP of remixes for various songs she had released up to that point, including the single "Dolla in My Titty." Her second studio album, Black Pepper, was released in June of that year. In 2018, she released a three-song EP titled Blend with producer Cazwell. In 2019, Peppermint featured on fellow Drag Race alum Trinity the Tuck's single "I Call Shade," which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Comedy Digital Tracks chart.

In 2020, Peppermint announced her work on a new album, releasing the lead single "What You're Lookin' For." In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she revealed that the album would be a trilogy of EPs, with the full studio album originally planned for a May 2020 release but delayed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The first of these EPs, A Girl Like Me: Letters to My Lovers, was released on October 16, 2020, with the lead single "Best Sex" debuting on October 2. The project was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Music Artist.

Broadway Debut and Acting Roles

Peppermint made her Broadway debut in the Go-Go's-inspired musical Head Over Heels, which used songs by The Go-Go's. The show's plot was loosely based on the 16th-century novel The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney. Previews for the show began in June 2018, and it officially opened in July 2018 at the Hudson Theatre; Peppermint's role as Pythio made her the first trans woman to lead a Broadway production.

Peppermint has also appeared in the television shows Pose and Saturday Night Live, and in October 2019 she played the role of Pastor Olivia, a "[transgender] leader of the LGBTQ-friendly fellowship," in a two-episode arc on God Friended Me.

Activism and Advocacy

Peppermint has been vocal about her experiences as a trans woman and uses her platform to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. She is a co-founder, along with Bob The Drag Queen, of the Black Queer Town Hall. The inaugural event featured speakers such as Laverne Cox and Angela Davis and raised over $270,000 for the Okra Project.

Peppermint is also the subject of the documentary Divas, which premiered at SXSW in 2021. The film follows Peppermint and other trans women as they navigate the world of drag and gender identity.