Dane Young[2][4] (born July 23, 1986),[1][3] known professionally asKameron Michaels, is an Americandrag performer who came to international attention after competing on thetenth season ofRuPaul's Drag Race. Originally fromColumbia, Tennessee, she began her career inNashville, where she performed locally from 2004 or 2005 until her appearance on television. Since her season aired in 2018, Michaels has been a staple of several domestic and international tours that featureDrag Race contestants, includingWerq the World, Christmas Queens andDrive 'N Drag. She has also appeared on a number ofweb series produced byWorld of Wonder. In June 2019, she released "Freedom", her debut single and music video. Since January 2020, she has been a staple cast member ofRuPaul's Drag Race Live!, a residency show inLas Vegas, and also stars in the accompanyingVH1 miniseriesRuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue.
Michaels identifies as a muscle queen, that is, a drag queen whose aesthetic embraces a built, muscular body. Because of her physique, she is known by the nickname "The Bodybuilder Barbie".[5] She is also noted for her tattoos, which cover her forearms, her chest and part of a leg.
Young was born on July 23, 1986,[1][3] his parents' only child.[6] They lived inMassillon, Ohio, until he was five years old.[7] After this, they briefly resided inMichigan before moving toColumbia, Tennessee, where Young spent the majority of his youth.[8][9] He realized he wasgay in his early teens, and he came out to his mother at age 14.[10] She reacted supportively.[11] In high school, he was bullied for his sexuality and body language, and he developedintroverted tendencies in response to this.[12][13] He studied photographs and videos of himself to identify effeminate gestures that he then learned to modify or avoid.[14]
When he was 18, Young began traveling toNashville on the weekends, and he took up work as ago-go dancer and cocktail server on the local scene.[13][15][16] It was there that he first came into contact with drag queens and subsequently began performing in drag.[16][17] Because he felt more at home in Nashville'squeer community than in the conservative environment of Columbia, he relocated to Nashville when he was 21.[15][18]
I always say that my drag is a mix of old-school and new drag. I grew up around old-school drag—fringe costumes and dance. Dancing is a big thing for me.... I am definitely influenced by that, [but I also] take part in crazy makeup sometimes and newer songs. I don't do a whole lot of old-school stuff besides my costumes.
At the start of Young's drag career, a more seasoned performer made his costumes, but he taught himself how to use makeup.[19] He initially took the drag name Arianna St. Claire.[20][21][22] After a few months, he switched the name to Kameron Michaels, as he wanted an androgynous first name paired with a last name used by no other drag queen in Nashville.[7][21]
Young took inspiration for his aesthetic from cinema and video games, and he describes his drag style as hyper-feminine.[6][16][23] He credits theSouthern variety of drag he learned in Nashville with making him well-rounded, stating that it equipped him with diverse skills such as dancing and costume-making.[24] After developing a gym habit in his mid-20s, he became known as a muscle queen due to his built physique.[14][25][26] Before appearing onRuPaul's Drag Race, Young worked full time as a hair stylist, doing drag only on weekends.[9][20] He performed regularly at Play Dance Bar in Nashville.[7]
Kameron Michaels (center) performing atWerq the World in 2019
Michaels auditioned for theseventh season ofDrag Race in 2014, but she did not receive a callback.[27] She then auditioned for thetenth season in an effort to overcome a difficult breakup.[20][28] On her audition tape, she highlighted that, as a muscle queen, she was a type of character the show had never seen before.[19] She was selected to participate, and her season aired in 2018. She finished as a runner-up, together withEureka O'Hara, behind winnerAquaria.[29][30]
Some media outlets and fellow contestants dubbed Michaels the season'slip sync assassin,[31][32] as shelip-synced for her life four times in a row without being sent home; no other contestant has survived more than three lip syncs.[4][32][33] She also won the finale's first Lip Sync for the Crown but lost the second one to Aquaria, bringing her lip sync total to six.[34] On the show, she was noted for her introversion, which set her apart from her competitors.[35][36] Following criticism she received in the season's reunion episode for appearing moreextroverted on social media than in person, Michaels learned aboutambiversion. She has stated that this description fits her well.[14]
In August 2021, Michaels appeared on the ninth episode of thesixth season ofRuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Serving as the episode's Lip Sync Assassin, she lip synced against the week's top competitor,Ra'Jah O'Hara, and was declared the winner.[37][38]
As part of season 10's final challenge, Michaels and the other top four contestants wrote and recorded their own verses forRuPaul's song "American".[39] The song reached number 12 on theBillboardDance/Electronic Songs chart.[39][40] In summer 2018, Michaels participated in the 10s Across the Board Tour, traveling around the U.S. with other queens from the season.[41] Later that year, she recorded the track "Let It Snow" onChristmas Queens 4, a compilation album featuring Christmas songs sung by formerDrag Race contestants.[42][43] Following the album's release, she embarked on the Christmas Queens tour ofEurope in November and December 2018.[44] She then returned to Europe for a solo tour in January 2019.[45] The following month, she released a lip sync music video in which she performsMark Ronson's "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart".[46] In June of that year, she released her debut single, "Freedom", and its corresponding music video.[47][48]
Young is gay.[67] He began visiting the gym with a boyfriend who pressured him to stop doing drag.[5][14][16] After they broke up, he continued to focus on building muscle and returned to the drag scene, where his body drew criticism from others in the industry.[14][28][68] In the months that followed the airing ofDrag Race season 10, his workout routine temporarily fell by the wayside as he adjusted to life on tour.[19][69][70] Young briefly dated fellow season 10 contestantVanessa Vanjie Mateo while filmingRuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue.[71]
Young's arms and hands, as well as his chest, neck and left leg, bear tattoos that are visible when he is both in and out of drag.[68][72] When asked about them in an interview, he said, "I started getting tattooed when I was around 26 or 27. All my tattoos are by the same artist, and they were all done in about a year and a half. [They depict] favorite movies from my childhood and sentimental things in my life."[69] His left arm contains imagery fromJurassic Park andAliens, and he has ascarab beetle across his chest.[19][72] Of the latter, he said, "I got that when I started working out and going to the gym, because the scarab represents kind of a rebirth. That was me finding out who I was meant to be and really doing things for myself... taking time for myself."[19]
In July 2020, Young deleted much of the content from his Kameron Michaels profiles onInstagram,Twitter andYouTube, coincidentally on the day thatRuPaul did the same; this generated discussion and speculation amongDrag Race fans and followers.[73][74][75] Young later stated that he had removed the posts during a period of mental distress, which he attributed to prolonged time spent home alone due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and to reflection about the ongoingGeorge Floyd protests.[76][77] He subsequently restored some of the content.[76] In July 2021, Young shared on social media that he had suffered a severe bout ofdepression in November 2020, stating:
I barely ate. Barely took in liquids. By the time I pulled myself out of the hole I was in, my kidneys were dry, and most of the hair all over my body had thinned or fallen out.... I picked up my phone one random day and documented this to remember later what had happened to me.... It still makes me uneasy, but even if one person sees this and knows they aren't alone then I'm happy that I finally chose to post about it.[78]
While starring in RuPaul's Drag Race Live!, Young dated fellow cast member André Hurtado, who died in December 2022. Young subsequently went on hiatus from social media for 10 months, until October 2023.[80] When he resumed posting onTikTok, he published a reel sharing that he had been diagnosed withADHD.[81][82][83] Around the same time, he shared on Instagram that he was in a relationship.[80]
In early 2025, Young announced that he had become a certifiedpersonal trainer and launched a workout program called Kameron Michaels Fitness. Additionally, he launched anOnlyFans page.[84][85]
^"American".RuPaul's Drag Race. Season 10. Episode 12. June 14, 2018. 51:08 minutes in.VH1. Archived fromthe original on June 25, 2018. RetrievedJuly 25, 2018.I'm gay and proud. Might not be loud, but I found my sound.
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