DWV (group)
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DWV was an American
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
based in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, consisting of drag queens
Detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period o ...
,
Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the RuPaul's Drag Race sea ...
, and Vicky Vox. They found fame with the release of " Chow Down (at Chick-Fil-A)" in March 2012, a parody of " Hold On" by
Wilson Phillips Wilson Phillips is an American pop vocal group formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The group consists of sisters Carnie and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phi ...
, satirizing
Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A, Inc. ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in Chicken burger, chicken sandwiches. Headquarter ...
's controversial stance on
gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...
. The single's music video went viral online. They followed this up with the January 2013 release of "
Boy Is a Bottom "Boy Is a Bottom" is a song by American singer and drag queen Willam Belli, featuring Detox and Vicky Vox ( DWV). The song was released to coincide with the fifth season premiere of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The original music video went viral. As ...
", a parody of the
Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...
song " Girl on Fire", which proved to be even more popular, amassing 25.8 million views on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, as of 2022. Between 2012 and 2014, DWV released seven singles together commercially, three of which charted on the ''Billboard'' Comedy Digital Songs chart. In June 2014, it was officially confirmed by all three members on social media platforms that the group had split.


History


''Drag Race'' beginnings

Willam Belli was a contestant on the fourth season of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...
'', which premiered in 2012 while Detox was a contestant on the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which premiered in January 2013. Vicky Vox has yet to make an appearance on ''Drag Race''. The three queens began working together, releasing music, and touring as a group in 2012 following Willam's appearance on ''Drag Race''.


Viral success

In March 2012, DWV released their first collaborative single " Chow Down (at Chick-fil-A)" on Belli's personal
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. The song, a parody of " Hold On" by
Wilson Phillips Wilson Phillips is an American pop vocal group formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The group consists of sisters Carnie and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phi ...
satirizing
Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A, Inc. ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain and the largest chain specializing in Chicken burger, chicken sandwiches. Headquarter ...
's controversial stance on
gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...
, went viral online. In December 2012, DWV embarked on a 60-day world tour, promoting their singles throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and also in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
. In January 2013, following up on the success of their first single, DWV released another music video, this time for their single "
Boy Is a Bottom "Boy Is a Bottom" is a song by American singer and drag queen Willam Belli, featuring Detox and Vicky Vox ( DWV). The song was released to coincide with the fifth season premiere of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The original music video went viral. As ...
", coinciding with the premiere of the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', on which Detox was a contestant. The song is a parody of the Inferno version of Alicia Key's " Girl on Fire". The song features lyrics that satirize
sex positions A sex position is a positioning of the bodies that people use to engage in sexual intercourse or other sexual activities. Sexual acts are generally described by the positions the participants adopt in order to perform those acts. Though sexua ...
, specifically
tops Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), ...
and bottoms during
anal intercourse Anal sex or anal intercourse principally means the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris ...
. The song proved to be even more popular than their previous single, amassing 25 million views on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
, as of 2021. In May 2013, DWV released "Silicone", alongside the premiere of the reunion episode of the ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season five. Written by Willam Belli, the song is a parody of
Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (; born 12 June 1979), known professionally as Robyn (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Her 1995 debut album ''Robyn Is Here'' produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 single ...
's " Dancing On My Own". The single marked the singing debut of Detox, who usually rapped verses in the group's songs rather than singing them. It also is the first to have been released officially under the DWV group name. In 2013, DWV became the faces of a limited edition selection of OCC Makeup Lip Tar and & Nail Lacquer packs. In September 2013, DWV released another single called "Blurred Bynes", a parody of Robin Thicke's "
Blurred Lines "Blurred Lines" is a song by American singer Robin Thicke featuring American rapper T.I. and American musician Pharrell Williams from Thicke's sixth studio album of the same name (2013). Solely produced by Williams, it was released as the a ...
". The song pokes fun at
Amanda Bynes Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress. Bynes began her career as a child actor, appearing on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series '' All That'' (1996–2000) and its spin-off series '' The Amanda Show'' (1999–2002). ...
' new image on social media including her hair, new breast implants, and her infamous tweet to
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
. On 10 December 2013, DWV released a Christmas single, "That Christmas Song", using many elements of
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...
's ''
All That ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy children's television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tol ...
''. On March 8, 2014, they released another single and music video called "Gaycation". Between 2012 and 2014, DWV released seven singles together commercially, three of which charted on the ''Billboard'' Comedy Digital Songs chart.


Breakup

In June 2014, rumors circulated on social media platforms that the trio had broken up and all three members addressed the situation, confirming that they had chosen to part ways due to conflicts between them. Belli tweeted that DWV had broken up because "it was just time", Vox stated that "it was fun for a while", and Detox lamented feeling "piegon-holed" by the group. Belli subsequently posted that "DMV is dead" on
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
and explained further in a response on
Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...
:
We never planned stuff really and we just don’t have anything coming up. We were just friends putting songs out who then turned into DWV. I would think of something and then we’d round up and do it (exception- Chow Down we all thought of and Gaycation was De’s idea but we all wrote). We no longer have time to make stuff happen like we once did. That’s the reality of it. I think when people paid us to be the supergroup DWV for their own products, the ending result video wasn’t as whoreganic and fun as what we were known for.The last two years have been a whirlwind of unexpectedness that I wouldn’t trade for anything but I am looking forward to dealing with one tranimal instead of three for a while professionally. It’s just less variables and I’m a creative despot.


Members

Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the RuPaul's Drag Race sea ...
(born June 30, 1982) is an American actor, drag queen, and singer-songwriter from
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, based in Los Angeles. She first gained fame for her recurring role as a
transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
woman named Cherry Peck in Ryan Murphy's television series ''
Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States for six seasons from 2003 to 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime, black comedy, family drama, sati ...
''. Willam achieved further prominence as a contestant on the fourth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' in 2012, but was disqualified in the "Frenemies" challenge episode, marking the show's first disqualification. In 2018, she appeared in the critically acclaimed film '' A Star Is Born''. For her performance on the dark comedy web series ''
EastSiders ''EastSiders'' is an American dark comedy web series created by Kit Williamson. It premiered on YouTube on December 14, 2012, and began streaming through Logo TV's website on April 23, 2013. Set in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake, Los Ange ...
'', she was nominated for a
Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...
for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series. In June 2019, a panel of judges from ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
'' magazine placed her ninth on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former ''Drag Race'' contestants. Matthew Sanderson (born June 3, 1985), known mononymously as
Detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period o ...
, is an American drag queen and recording artist from
Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
, based in California. Detox was a contestant on season five of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', placing fourth, and also competed on the second season of ''
All Stars An all-star is an individual with a high level of performance in their field. All-star or All Star may also refer to: Awards * GAA GPA All Stars Awards, annual awards given to practitioners of Gaelic games ** Camogie All Stars Awards ** Ladies' ...
'', placing as a runner-up. Detox has appeared in music videos with
Ke$ha Kesha Rose Sebert (born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. Her first major success came in 2009 when she was featured on rapper Flo Rida's number-one single, "Right Round". Kesha's music and ima ...
and
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
and is a member of
Chad Michaels Chad Michael Storbeck, known professionally as Chad Michaels (born March 20, 1971), is an American Drag queen, drag performer and professional Cher impersonator. He was a runner-up in the RuPaul's Drag Race season 4, fourth season of ''RuPaul's D ...
' Dreamgirls Revue, the longest-running female-impersonation show in California. In June 2019, a panel of judges from ''New York'' magazine placed her 14th on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former ''Drag Race'' contestants. Vicky Vox is an American actor, drag queen, and singer-songwriter based in California. Vox is Detox's drag daughter. She is known for performing live instead of lip syncing. In 2015, she played a supporting role in the 2015 feature film ''
Magic Mike XXL ''Magic Mike XXL'' is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by Gregory Jacobs, written by Reid Carolin and starring Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash, and Joe Manganiello. A sequel to 2012's ''Magic Mike'', the film premiered in Holl ...
''. She also has her own YouTube web series called ''The Vicky Vox Project'', and has performed on stage in a London production of ''
Little Shop Of Horrors Little Shop of Horrors may refer to: * '' The Little Shop of Horrors'', a 1960 American film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (musical), a 1982 musical based on the 1960 film * ''Little Shop of Horrors'' (1986 film), a 1986 American film based on th ...
.''


Discography


Singles


See also

* Girl groups in the ''Drag Race'' franchise *
The AAA Girls The AAA Girls (The American Apparel Ad Girls) are a drag queen trio composed of the drag queens Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, Courtney Act, and Willam Belli. The trio is both a musical ensemble and a comedy troupe. History In September 2014 the fash ...
* List of drag groups


References

{{Authority control 2012 establishments in California 2014 disestablishments in California American pop music groups Drag groups Musical groups disestablished in 2014 Musical groups established in 2012 Musical trios from California LGBTQ-themed musical groups