Kerri Colby is the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

of Elyse Alessandra Anderson (born July 30, 1996), an American

drag Drag or The Drag may refer to: Places * Drag, Norway, a village in Tysfjord municipality, Nordland, Norway * ''Drág'', the Hungarian name for Dragu Commune in Sălaj County, Romania * Drag (Austin, Texas), the portion of Guadalupe Street a ...

performer best known for competing on season 14 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, ...

'', where she placed ninth overall, and

season 10 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'' is an American reality competition spin off edition of the original ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which is produced by World of Wonder, for Logo TV and later VH1. The show premiered on October 22, 2012, on Logo TV, ...

''. Kerri Colby is based in Los Angeles, California.

Early life

Anderson was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas to a woman named Pamela. She was raised in a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

household. She stated that she has never fit in with those beliefs, and after watching the fifth season of ''

'', she learned about

. She left home at 15, and she has stated the reasoning for leaving is the toxic environment that her family created for her. She couch-surfed, mostly in Dallas's Oak Lawn neighborhood, which is the city's

gayborhood A gay village, also known as a gayborhood or gaybourhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay villages often ...

, and found friends to take care of her after leaving home. She has stated that many of the people taking care of her were much older, and it led to abusive situations. One day when Kerri was resting at a train station, a stranger named Manuel who was of El Salvadorian descent recognized her from her posts on both

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

and online and offered to help. Kerri told them that unless they helped with her homelessness, they could not help. This person then took Kerri in until she was eighteen. Kerri has stated in an interview, " y friend wascompletely my angel... I would not have made it." She moved to

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, ...

at 18 after someone hit her up on an app, ending up living in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writing ...

with a man who flew her to the city.

Career

She competed on season 14 of ''

''. On episode 4, she landed in the bottom and lip-synced against

Alyssa Hunter Alyssa Hunter is the stage name of Joshua Enrique Ortolaza Resto, a Puerto Rican drag performer who competed on season 14 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and season 10 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars''. Career Alyssa Hunter is a drag performer an ...

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

's song, "

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

". On episode 8, she landed in the bottom again with

Jasmine Kennedie Jasmine Kennedie (born May 22, 1999) is an American Drag (clothing), drag performer most known for competing on RuPaul's Drag Race season 14, season 14 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Early life Kennedie was raised in Binghamton, New York and Morganto ...

, and lost the lip-sync to "

Un-Break My Heart "Un-Break My Heart" is a song by American singer Toni Braxton for her second studio album, '' Secrets'' (1996). The song was written by Diane Warren and produced by David Foster. It was released as the second single from the album on October 7, ...

" by

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven ...

. She was a featured performer during Jennifer Lopez's performance at the

2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards The 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 22, 2022, and was broadcast live on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM Eastern Time Zone, EDT. The ceremony was returned to its trad ...

. In May, her nomination was announced at the 2022 WOWIE Awards as part of RuPaul's DragCon in

in the category Best Viral Moment (The America's Next Top Meme Award), shared with drag queens

Daya Betty Daya Betty is the stage name of Trenton Clarke (born February 19, 1996), an American drag performer who competed on the fourteenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars''. Early life Trenton ...

and Kornbread "The Snack" Jeté. In 2022, Colby appeared in an advertising campaign for cannabis beverage brand Cann, alongside fellow season 14 contestants

Willow Pill Willow Patterson, known by the stage name Willow Pill, is an American drag performer, recording artist, and television personality. She is best known for winning season 14 of ''RuPaul’s Drag Race'' ''in 2022'', where she became the first transge ...

Jorgeous Jorgeous is the stage name of Jorge Meza, a drag performer most known for competing on season 14 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and season 9 and season 10 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars''. Early life Meza was born and raised to a Mexican Ameri ...

, and Kornbread, as well as other LGBTQ+ celebrities including

Hayley Kiyoko Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft (born April 3, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and author. As a child model and actress, she appeared in a variety of films, including '' Lemonade Mouth'' (2011), '' Jem and the Holograms'' (2015), '' Insidi ...

and

Gus Kenworthy Augustus Richard Kenworthy (born October 1, 1991) is a British-American former freestyle skiing, freestyle skier, actor, and YouTuber. He has competed in slopestyle, halfpipe, and big air. Kenworthy won the Olympic medal, silver medal in men's s ...

. During press for the Cann campaign, Colby shared that she worked at a

dispensary A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispense ...

before appearing on Drag Race. In 2023, she appeared in a cameo during

season 15 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

'' Untucked'' episode to give a video message to her drag mother and season 15 winner

Sasha Colby Sasha Kekauoha (born July 26, 1984), best known by the stage name Sasha Colby, is an American drag performer and beauty pageant competitor. In 2012, she won the Miss Continental competition. In 2023, she was crowned the winner of season 15 of '' ...

. On April 23, 2025, Kerri Colby was announced as one of eighteen former ''Drag Race'' contestants participating in the tenth season of ''

''.

Personal life

Kerri Colby is a

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

. Fellow ''

Drag Race Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

'' contestant and trans woman

Kornbread Jeté Kornbread Jeté is the stage name of Demoria Elise Williams (born January 14, 1992), an American drag queen best known for competing on season 14 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' in 2022. Early life and education Williams was born and raised in Colum ...

credits Kerri Colby with helping her in her own transition. She has also helped inspire

to come out as a trans woman on an episode of '' Untucked'' on season 14 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Bosco has also cited Kerri Colby as a source of "clarity" in her transition, which she announced after season 14 wrapped filming.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colby, Kerri 1996 births Living people 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people African-American drag queens American drag queens American transgender women Drag performers from Dallas Drag performers from Los Angeles LGBTQ people from Texas

Kerri Colby Kerri Colby is the stage name of Elyse Alessandra Anderson (born July 30, 1996), an American Drag (clothing), drag performer best known for competing on RuPaul's Drag Race (season 14), season 14 of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', where she placed ninth ov ...

Transgender women entertainers Transgender drag performers