Pearl (drag queen)
Pearl | |
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![]() Pearl at RuPaul's DragCon LA in 2018 | |
Born | Matthew James Lent |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2012–present |
Pearl, occasionally known as Pearl Liaison, is the stage name of American drag performer and record producer Matthew James Lent,[1] who came to international attention on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race, finishing joint runner-up.
Early life[]
Lent grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida with his mother and two sisters.[2] He spent time drawing "rich old ladies with big diamond rings and furs", which eventually morphed into his drag persona.[3]
Drag career[]
After moving to Chicago, Lent began performing in drag in 2012, alongside Kim Chi and Trixie Mattel, using the stage name Pearl.[3] He has described Pearl's persona as a "Stepford wife robot bitch".[4] Lent initially only planned to use drag as a hobby, but quickly began booking gigs at increasing frequency. He later moved to Brooklyn, New York.[3]
In December 2014, Pearl was announced to be a participant on the seventh season of the Logo TV reality television series RuPaul's Drag Race.[5] Despite a slow start to the competition, Pearl rebounded to win two main challenges, and eventually became a finalist alongside fellow competitors Ginger Minj and Violet Chachki.[6] In the season finale, Violet Chachki was crowned the winner, leaving Pearl as a runner-up.[7] After the series, Pearl reported that her lack of enthusiasm towards the show while appearing on it was due to an early negative comment towards her by RuPaul which was not filmed - as a result, she has not been invited back for an All Stars series.[8]
Pearl has been described as the drag mother of Scarlet Envy, who appeared on RuPaul's Drag Race (season 11).[9] Pearl denied this in an interview in July 2019, describing Scarlet as a good friend of hers.[10]
Other ventures[]
Music[]
On June 2, 2015, Lent released the album Pleasure, along with a music video for its first single, "Love Slave".[11] Unlike other albums released by Drag Race alumni, Pleasure does not feature any vocals from Lent; he instead produced the entire album. The album charted at number eleven on the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart and number sixteen on the Heatseekers chart.[12]
Perfume[]
On June 2, 2015, Lent announced the release of a fragrance, Flazéda, with perfume company Xyrena.[13][14] In doing so, he became the first Drag Race alumni member to release a scent. The fragrance started shipping on June 30, 2015.[14]
Discography[]
- Albums
Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |
---|---|---|---|
US Dance [15] |
US Heat [16] | ||
Pleasure |
|
11 | 16 |
- Singles
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Love Slave"[18] (featuring Jaylee Maruk) |
2015 | Pleasure |
- Other appearances
Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
---|---|---|---|
"Hey Booty"[19] | 2015 | RuPaul, Miles Davis Moody | RuPaul Presents: CoverGurlz2 |
Filmography[]
Television[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Himself (Contestant) | Season 7 - Runner-up | [20] |
Web series[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Untucked | Himself | Companion web series to RuPaul's Drag Race | [21] |
Music videos[]
Title | Year | Director | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
"Hey Booty" | 2015 | Matthew James Lent | [22] |
"Love Slave" | 2015 | Michael Serrato | [23] |
Music video appearances[]
Title | Year | Director | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
"Bettie" (Violet Chachki) |
2015 | Michael Serrato | [24] |
"Nerves of Steel" (Erasure) |
2020 | Brad Hammer | [25] |
See also[]
- LGBT culture in New York City
- List of LGBT people from New York City
References[]
- ^ Lock, Isaac (Autumn–Winter 2016). "Pearl: Venus as a Boy". Dazed. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
- ^ Van Horn, Shea (June 11, 2015). "Shea Van Horn Interviews PEARL". Brightest Young Things. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Lindsay, Benjamin (February 27, 2015). "Flawless Pearl". Next Magazine. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ Fernandez, Cory (May 27, 2015). "A Real Pearl". Out. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ Nichols, JamesMichael (December 7, 2015). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Season Seven Cast Revealed (PHOTOS)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ "RuPaul reveals Drag Race final 3 in holographically dragtastic Born Naked video". 27 May 2015.
- ^ Lee, Stephan (June 2, 2015). "RuPaul's Drag Race season 7 winner talks about being the 'shadiest queen'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
- ^ https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/pearl-told-shell-never-return-to-drag-race-all-stars-following-rupaul-drama/
- ^ Rudolph, Christopher (2019-04-05), "RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE INTERVIEW: SCARLET ENVY: "IF ANYONE WAS THROWN UNDER THE BUS, IT WAS ME"", MTV
- ^ Shepard, Joseph. "Pearl: Exposed". Youtube. Joseph Shepard. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
- ^ Nichols, JamesMichael (June 3, 2015). "Violet Chachki, Pearl And Ginger Minj, 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Finalists, Release New Music". The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
- ^ "Pearl - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- ^ O'Donnell, Carey. "Pearl Releases New Signature Fragrance, Flazéda". Logo NewNowNext. Viacom International Inc. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Flazéda By Pearl – Extrait De Parfum". Xyrena. Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "Pearl – Chart History – Top Dance/Electronic Albums". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- ^ "Pearl – Chart History – Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Pleasure - Album by Pearl". iTunes. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - Love Slave - Single by Pearl". iTunes. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "iTunes - Music - RuPaul Presents CoverGurlz2 by RuPaul". iTunes. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
- ^ Malice, Michael (March 3, 2015). "'RuPaul's Drag Race' 7×1 Recap: No Shame in Being Shallow". Observer. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ Untucked: RuPaul's Drag Race Episode 1 - Born Naked. YouTube. March 3, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
- ^ Pearl - Hey Booty: RuPaul Presents: The CoverGurlz2. YouTube. February 3, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ Pearl - Pleasure - Love Slave (Official). YouTube. June 1, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ Violet Chachki - Bettie [Official]. YouTube. June 1, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
- ^ Erasure (August 11, 2020). "Erasure - Nerves of Steel (Official Video)" (YouTube video). Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
External links[]
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pearl (drag queen). |
- Official website Archived from the original on July 16, 2015.
- Pearl at IMDb
- Pearl discography on Discogs
- Living people
- American drag queens
- LGBT DJs
- People from St. Petersburg, Florida
- RuPaul's Drag Race contestants