Mayhem Miller, is the stage name of Dequan Armand Johnson (born February 9, 1982), an American

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

, best known for competing on the tenth 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, ...

'' (2018), the fifth season 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, ...

'' (2020), and the second series of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World'' (2024).

Early life

Johnson was born in

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...

in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of

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, ...

. He grew up in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

and

South Central Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

. He got the drag name "Mayhem Miller" from

Tommy Lee Thomas Lee (born Thomas Lee Bass; October 3, 1962) is an American musician who co-founded and plays drums for the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He also founded rap metal band Methods of Mayhem and has pursued solo musical projects. Early ...

and

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress, model and media personality. She rose to prominence after being selected as the February 1990 ''Playboy'' Playmate of the Month. She went on to make regular appearan ...

's sex tape. He started doing drag on May 10, 2002, the same year as fellow ''Drag Race'' alumna

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

and the year after

Morgan McMichaels Morgan McMichaels (born May 28, 1981) is the stage name of Scottish-American drag performer Thomas White, best known as a contestant on the second season of the reality television competition ''RuPaul's Drag Race,'' as well as the third seaso ...

, whom Johnson worked with before ''Drag Race''. Johnson's other drag colleagues are alum Detox and

Delta Work Delta Work is the stage name of Gabriel A. Villarreal, an Emmy Award-winning American drag performer and stylist, best known for competing on the third season (2011) of the reality competition television series ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Work r ...

. He auditioned for ''Drag Race'' every year beginning with season two.

Career

Mayhem Miller was announced as one of fourteen contestants for the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' on February 22, 2018. He was declared the winner of the episode one sewing challenge. In episode three, He was in the bottom two and

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

ed " Celebrity Skin" against Yuhua Hamasaki, and won. He was eliminated in episode five after losing a lip sync of " Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" against Monét X Change, and placed tenth overall. Outside of ''Drag Race'', Miller appeared in an episode of

Buzzfeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

's " Try Guys" in 2014, giving a drag makeover to Eugene Lee Yang as Cheyenne Pepper. He was one of the backup dancers for

NeNe Leakes Linnethia Monique "NeNe" Leakes (; née Johnson; born December 13, 1967) is an American television personality, actress, presenter, businesswoman, author, and fashion designer. She first rose to prominence after becoming the breakout star on B ...

's lip sync of

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

's "

Supermodel (You Better Work) "Supermodel (You Better Work)" is a song by American dance music singer and drag queen RuPaul. It was released as a double A-sided single alongside " House of Love" on November 17, 1992 by Tommy Boy Records. The song served as the lead single fr ...

" in the show, "

Lip Sync Battle ''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John ...

" in 2016. He played the character Blanquisha in the 2017 movie ''Cherry Pop'' with Detox,

Bob the Drag Queen Christopher Delmar Caldwell (born June 22, 1986), also known by his stage name Caldwell Tidicue and better known by his drag name Bob the Drag Queen, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, author, and reality television ...

, Latrice Royale, and Tempest DuJour. He was with queens McMichaels, Laganja Estranja,

Jaidynn Diore Fierce Jaidynn Diore Fierce is the stage name of Christopher Williams, an American drag performer who competed on season 7 of the American television series ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Williams, who is originally from Tennessee, lives and works in Nash ...

, and Farrah Moan and singer

Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (; born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer-songwriter, television personality, and actress. Born in Pristina, modern-day Kosovo, she rose to prominence when she featured on DJ Fresh's 2012 single, "Hot Rig ...

for the thirteen season of '' Germany's Next Topmodel'' in May 2018. He was in the music video for Blair St. Clair's "Call My Life" in June 2018. An

internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

of one of Miller's 2011 video performances with overexaggerated eyes started spreading in November 2018. Miller competed in the ''Drag Race'' television special '' RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular''. He appeared in the music video for Iggy Azalea's " Sally Walker" on March 14, 2019. He also appeared in a music video for

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

's song "

Juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...

" on April 17, 2019. In 2019, Miller released his very own lipsticks in collaboration with Hank & Henry. In August 2019, he was featured in

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides i ...

magazine, alongside Kimora Blac, Mariah Balenciaga, and Kameron Michaels. Miller was credited as a makeup artist for '' RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race'', making over Jermaine Fowler during the premiere episode. In 2020, Miller returned for the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'', placing 7th overall. In 2021, Mayhem returned as a Lip-Sync Assassin on the fifth episode of the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'', where he lost the lip-sync to Lizzo's song "Phone" against Ginger Minj. Miller returned to compete in the second series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World'' which aired in February 2024. He was eliminated in the first episode by Marina Summers after failing the premiere talent show, bottoming a second time in the same challenge (following All Stars 5), meaning he finished last place in eleventh.Drag Race: Why Mayhem Miller felt “tricked” on UK vs the World
/ref>

Music

Miller released his first single "Queen of the Party" featuring producer Brynn Taylor on December 7, 2018.

Personal life

Johnson is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

. His drag daughters are

Rhea Litré Rhea Litré (born Joshua Miller on October 28, 1984) is an American drag queen, singer, songwriter, and DJ. She is a fixture in West Hollywood nightlife. Career After graduating from high school, Miller moved to Los Angeles to audition for the A ...

and Eugene Lee Yang (Cheyenne Pepper). In July 2018, Johnson was refused services from an

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

driver in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

for being in drag. He expressed it on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

with support from his fans.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Web series

* ''

Bring Back My Girls ''Bring Back My Girls'' is a reality television series hosted by American television personality Ts Madison. The first season premiered October 18, 2022 on WOW Presents Plus. The series is formatted as a reunion special, where in every epis ...

'' (2024)

Discography

Singles

As Featured Artist

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mayhem 1982 births Living people 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people African-American drag queens American drag queens American gay actors American gay musicians American LGBTQ singers African-American LGBTQ people LGBTQ people from California People from Riverside, California Mayhem Miller Drag performers from California