Kevin Aviance | |
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.jpg) Kevin Aviance in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Eric Snead (1968-06-22)June 22, 1968 (age 57) |
| Origin | Richmond, Virginia, United States |
| Genres | Dance |
| Occupations | female impressionist,Club/Dance musician,fashion designer and nightclub personality |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Website | Myspace |
Kevin Aviance (bornEric Snead on June 22, 1968) is an Americandrag queen,club/dance musician, fashion designer, and nightclub personality.[1][2] He is a personality in New York City's gay scene and has performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia.[3][4] He is a member of theHouse of Aviance, one of the most notablevogue-ball houses in the U.S.[5] He is known for his trademark phrase, "Work. Fierce. Over. Aviance!" He won the 1998 and 1999 Glammy Awards, the award for nightlife personalities in New York City.[6] He has worked with several artists, includingJanet Jackson andWhitney Houston.[7] In December 2016,Billboard Magazine ranked him as the 93rd most successful dance artist of all time.[8]
Aviance was raised in Richmond, Virginia, in a close-knit family of eight siblings.[6] His father provided for them as a landscape contractor.[9] From an early age, Aviance dedicated himself to the study of music and theatre, his first experience in drag was in the seventh grade.[5] His early influences were "punk,Boy George,Devo, andGrace Jones".[9] He moved to Washington D.C. where he worked as a hairdresser and did drag performances.[5] He developed a bad crack habit but with help of theHouse of Aviance he was able to overcome it, after his initiation in the house he took the name Kevin Aviance.[5] He later moved to New York City and made a name for himself as a dancer/performer at Sound Factory, a club mainly for queer Latinos and Blacks.[5] Major DJs and club promoters saw him performing and started hiring him, he became one of a handful of drag performers in NYC able to support themselves solely on performances.[5] His career as a performance artist and club personality began in Washington, DC, continued in Miami, and eventually landed him in New York City. The House of Aviance was founded in 1989 (in Washington, DC) byMother Juan Aviance.[10] Kevin is regarded as Mother Juan and the House's "oldest daughter".[10] In 1993, Aviance, who was living in Florida at the time, was asked to move to New York City by Mother Juan. He accepted his House Mother's request and shortly after landed a cameo role inMadonna's 1994Secret video.[10] In July 1999, Aviance performed as part of Billboard's sixth annualDance Music Summit.[11]
Aviance has appeared in several films, includingFlawless starringRobert De Niro and the independent filmPunks. Besides his feature-film work he has made guest appearances on such shows asThe Tyra Banks Show, andAmerica's Next Top Model, also hosted byTyra Banks, and worked with artists likeJanet Jackson andWhitney Houston.[7] In 2015, Canadian filmmaker Raymond Helkio produced the documentary "WERK. FIERCE. OVAH. Aviance!" which premiered at the 2018 NYC East Village Queer Film Festival.
His songsDin Da Da,Rhythm Is My Bitch,Alive,Give It Up andStrut, have all reached Number 1 of theBillboard dance chart. The only one of his singles not to peak at Number 1 to date isDance for Love. Aviance's most successful dance radio hit to date isGive It Up released in 2004. His second album,Entity is a more consistent effort than his first.
On June 10, 2006, while exiting the Phoenix, a popular gay bar located in the East Village section of Manhattan, Aviance was robbed and beaten by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. Four suspects were arrested under New York'shate-crime law, but reports say up to seven men were involved in the attack.[12] Aviance was not dressed in his gender-bending performance clothes but as a boy. He had to have his jaw wired for a month.[13] He also suffered a fractured knee and neck injuries as well as blows to the face.[14] Despite suffering a broken jaw, he insisted on appearing in the city'sgay pride parade later that month.[15]
The four suspects, who ranged between 17 and 21 years old, were charged with gang assault as a hate crime. On March 21, 2007, they pleaded guilty and were sentenced to between six and fifteen years in prison. Without the plea agreement, they had faced up to 25 years.[16]
Recently, Aviance appeared on the songThis is New York City (Bitch!) by thetransgender rap group La'Mady from the albumJonny McGovern Presents: This is NYC, Bitch! The East Village Mixtape.[17] In 2007, Aviance's songStrut was featured as the theme song for the documentary seriesIndie Sex. In April 2008, Aviance staged a comeback to the club scene and entertainment world, and was reunited on stage withJunior Vasquez, who previously worked together but had become estranged over a professional dispute. At Cielo, a club in New York known for its lighted walls, the tandem performance marked the return to the spotlight for Aviance, performing two of his new hit singles. He most recently recorded a cover ofBritney Spears'sGimme More, produced byJonny McGovern and Adam Joseph onThe East Village Mixtape 2: The Legends Ball. In 2022, Aviance's hit song "Cunty" was sampled for 15 seconds on Beyoncé's seventh studio albumRenaissance for the track "Pure/Honey".
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