Charlie Hides (born July 12, 1964) is a British-American

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

impersonator An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Entertainment: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of ...

, actor, and comedian. Hides is known for his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel, and his participation in the ninth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

''. Following live performances in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

clubs, Hides started a YouTube channel in March 2011. He has produced hundreds of videos satirizing

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, and impersonating celebrities such as

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, and

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent r ...

Personal life

Hides was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

on July 12, 1964. He attended the

Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...

. He currently lives in London and has

multiple citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

, being a citizen of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. Hides is gay, and in 2004 married his partner James Hides in the town of

Provincetown Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...

Career

Hides began as a successful drag act in Provincetown, Massachusetts in the 1990s. There he would incorporate live singing as well as comedic skits into his act. This success continued when he moved to London in the 2000s where he began performing on the London cabaret circuit in gay-venues, and legendary drag/cabaret venues, such as The Two Brewers and The Royal Vauxhall Tavern. As his success grew, he became a sensation across the United Kingdom and would regularly tour the UK. Hides started a YouTube channel after

high-definition video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines ...

uploading became available on the website. Following the creation of his channel, he uploaded some of the videos that he used in live performances and comedy routines. Since Hides created the ''Charlie Hides TV'' YouTube channel in March 2011, he has uploaded over 200 videos. These include series such as ''Madonna/Lady Gaga Nightmares'' and ''Shit ____ Says''. In 2013, Hides uploaded a sketch that starred Australian singer and actress

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

. He impersonated Cher during a telephone call with Minogue. In 2015, Hides starred on the TV show ''

Big Brother's Bit on the Side This is a complete list of shows about and relating to ''Big Brother UK'' and ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The civilian edition ran from 2000 to 2018 and the celebrity edition ran from 2001 to 2018. ''Big Brother'' ''Big Brother'' was a daily sho ...

'', where he impersonated celebrities whilst commenting on ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'' contestants. Hides also had a cameo role in the film '' Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie'', as a drag performer. In 2014, ''The Charlie Hides Show'' aired on London Live as a pilot show, incorporating elements from his live performances and YouTube channel. Hides has occasionally drawn the attention of some of the acts that he impersonates. In a 2013 interview with the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald ...

'', Cher said that Hides was her "favourite Cher impersonator". When Lady Gaga was in London, she sent flowers to Hides, alongside a note. Hides has also stated that

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Kris Jenner Kristen Mary Jenner ( Houghton , formerly Kardashian; born November 5, 1955) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She rose to fame starring in the reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' (2007� ...

have been "very kind". In 2019, Hides' began regularly performing and hosting 'Drag Queen Bingo' and saw instant success with every show selling out that he began taking it across the United Kingdom. 'Drag Queen Bingo' would become Hides' regular show, taking over from his evening cabaret shows, and in 2020 he set up the company dragqueen.bingo.

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

On February 2, 2017,

Logo TV Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progr ...

announced that Hides would participate as a contestant in the ninth season of American reality competition ''

''. As of 2017, Hides is the oldest contestant to participate on ''Drag Race''. The season premiered on March 24, 2017, on VH1. In an interview with

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

Newsbeat ''Newsbeat'' is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. ''Newsbeat'' is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for a specifically youn ...

'', Hides said: On the fourth episode of the show, entitled "Good Morning Bitches", Hides was eliminated from the competition. He was placed in the bottom two by the judges, and therefore had to participate in a "Lip-Sync for Your Life" to

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage producti ...

' "

I Wanna Go "I Wanna Go" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her seventh studio album, ''Femme Fatale'' (2011). It was written and produced by Max Martin and Shellback, with additional writing by Savan Kotecha. Spears first posted on her Twitt ...

" against fellow contestant Trinity Taylor. Hides commented on the lip-sync, saying that the self-described "disaster" was a result of having a

fractured rib A rib fracture is a break in a rib bone. This typically results in chest pain that is worse with inspiration. Bruising may occur at the site of the break. When several ribs are broken in several places a flail chest results. Potential complicatio ...

, due to a cheerleading challenge several episodes prior. In the episode's challenge, Hides was critiqued for his performance in the

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

segment of the episode. The morning after his elimination, Hides uploaded a music video for his new single, "The Dame".

Controversy

In December 2015, Hides was accused of using

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

and

ethnic stereotype An ethnic stereotype, racial stereotype or cultural stereotype involves part of a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group, their status, societal and cultural norms. A national stereotype, or nation ...

s to represent one of his characters, Laquisha Jonz. An activist,

Chardine Taylor-Stone Chardine Taylor-Stone is a British feminist activist, writer and musician. In December 2015 Taylor-Stone founded Stop Rainbow Racism to campaign against the performance of ‘Black face’ at LGBTQ+ Venues. The campaign began in response to a perf ...

, launched a petition on the website Change.org, calling for the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and other venues, to cancel Hides' performances. Taylor-Stone claimed that the character was "a racist act based on misogynist stereotypes of black working class women, it is outdated, offensive, shameful and has no place in the

LGBT Community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and so ...

". As a result, Hides stated that he will no longer use the character in his performances.

Filmography

Television

Film

Discography and parodies

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hides, Charlie American drag queens American satirists Living people 1964 births American YouTubers American costume designers American people of Irish descent American people of British descent Comedians from London Comedians from Massachusetts American gay actors British gay writers LGBT YouTubers Gay comedians LGBT people from Massachusetts English LGBT rights activists American LGBT rights activists British LGBT screenwriters Male actors from Boston Male actors from London Male actors from Massachusetts Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni People from Boston Television personalities from London

Charlie Hides Charlie Hides (born July 12, 1964) is a British-American drag queen, impersonator, actor, and comedian. Hides is known for his YouTube channel, and his participation in the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 9), ninth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. F ...

21st-century American comedians English drag queens American LGBT comedians British LGBT comedians