Kameron Michaels

Dane Young (born July 23, 1986), known professionally as Kameron Michaels, is an American drag performer who came to international attention after competing on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Young was born on July 23, 1986, his parents' only child.

They lived in Massillon, Ohio, until he was five years old.

After this, they briefly resided in Michigan before moving to Columbia, Tennessee, where Young spent the majority of his youth.

He realized he was gay in his early teens, and he came out to his mother at age 14.

She reacted supportively.

In high school, he was bullied for his sexuality and body language, and he developed introverted tendencies in response to this.

He studied photographs and videos of himself to identify effeminate gestures that he then learned to modify or avoid.

When he was 18, Young began traveling to Nashville on the weekends, and he took up work as a go-go dancer and cocktail server on the local scene.

It was there that he first came into contact with drag queens and subsequently began performing in drag.

Because he felt more at home in Nashville's queer community than in the conservative environment of Columbia, he relocated to Nashville when he was 21.

At the start of Young's drag career, a more seasoned performer made his costumes, but he taught himself how to use makeup.

He initially took the drag name Arianna St. Claire.

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.

Young took inspiration for his aesthetic from cinema and video games, and he describes his drag style as hyper-feminine.

He credits the Southern 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.

After developing a gym habit in his mid-20s, he became known as a muscle queen due to his built physique.

Before appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race, Young worked full time as a hair stylist, doing drag only on weekends.

He performed regularly at Play Dance Bar in Nashville.

Originally from Columbia, Tennessee, she began her career in Nashville, where she performed locally from 2004 or 2005 until her appearance on television.

Michaels auditioned for the seventh season of Drag Race in 2014, but she did not receive a callback.

She then auditioned for the tenth season in an effort to overcome a difficult breakup.

On her audition tape, she highlighted that, as a muscle queen, she was a type of character the show had never seen before.

Since her season aired in 2018, Michaels has been a staple of several domestic and international tours that feature Drag Race contestants, including Werq the World, Christmas Queens and Drive 'N Drag.

She has also appeared on a number of web series produced by World of Wonder.

She was selected to participate, and her season aired in 2018.

She finished as a runner-up, together with Eureka O'Hara, behind winner Aquaria.

Some media outlets and fellow contestants dubbed Michaels the season's lip sync assassin, as she lip-synced for her life four times in a row without being sent home; no other contestant has survived more than three lip syncs.

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.

On the show, she was noted for her introversion, which set her apart from her competitors.

Following criticism she received in the season's reunion episode for appearing more extroverted on social media than in person, Michaels learned about ambiversion.

She has stated that this description fits her well.

In August 2021, Michaels appeared on the ninth episode of the sixth season of RuPaul'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.

As part of season 10's final challenge, Michaels and the other top four contestants wrote and recorded their own verses for RuPaul's song "American".

In June 2019, she released "Freedom", her debut single and music video.

Since January 2020, she has been a staple cast member of RuPaul's Drag Race Live!, a residency show in Las Vegas, and also stars in the accompanying VH1 miniseries RuPaul'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".

She is also noted for her tattoos, which cover her forearms, her chest and part of a leg.