Peppermint, or Miss Peppermint (born January 31, 1980), is an American actress, singer, songwriter, television personality,

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 ...

, and activist. She is best known from the

nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

scene and, in 2017, as the runner-up on 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), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

''. In 2018, Peppermint made her debut in

The Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American all-female Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar ...

-inspired musical '' Head Over Heels'' as Pythio, becoming Broadway's first out

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 ...

to originate a lead role. As a recording artist, she has released two studio albums, ''Hardcore Glamour'', released in 2009, and ''Black Pepper'', released in 2017, as well as five EPs, including '' A Girl Like Me: Letters to My Lovers'', which was released in 2020. In December 2023, she was announced as a part of the cast of the second season of ''

The Traitors ''The Traitors'' is a reality game show franchise created by the All3Media All3Media Limited is a British worldwide independent television, film, and digital production and distribution company based in London. The All3Media group cons ...

''.

Early life

Peppermint was raised in

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey ...

, and

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. She felt her

gender non-conformity Gender nonconformity or gender variance is gender expression by an individual whose behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A person can be gender-nonconforming regardless of their gender identit ...

was policed, so she tried to fit in with others' expectations. She transitioned after moving to New York City and

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

in 2012, before she appeared on ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. While a contestant on ''Drag Race'', Peppermint revealed that when she had been a high-school cheerleader, she had been beaten up by a male member of her high school's basketball team.

Career

Early work

Peppermint started performing as a child in youth theatre, playing roles at Opera Delaware, Delaware Children's Theatre, and The Brandywiners Community Theatre. She continued performing at Wilmington High School where she was also on the cheerleading team. For a time, she also worked as a makeup artist for

MAC Cosmetics M A C Cosmetics is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company has been headquartered in New York City since becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies in 1998. MAC is an acron ...

. Peppermint moved to New York City to study

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

at AMDA. While in college she got a job at the nightclub

Tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

's Kurfew parties, ultimately becoming a fixture in New York City nightlife. She started recording music in 2005 for Jonny McGovern's mixtape ''Jonny McGovern Presents: This is NYC, Bitch! The East Village Mixtape''. She contributed the song "Servin' It Up", which was produced by Adam Joseph. The song was later released as Peppermint's debut single in 2006. Peppermint was featured in the web series ''Queens of Drag: NYC'' by

gay.com Gay.com was a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the LGBT community. The site was a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site featured LGBT-related news and features. As of September 20 ...

in 2010. The series featured fellow New York drag queens Bianca Del Rio, Dallas DuBois,

Hedda Lettuce Hedda Lettuce is the stage name of Steven Polito, an American drag queen, comedian and singer who lives and works in New York City. Polito debuted his character Hedda Lettuce in 1991 on the Manhattan Cable TV show ''The Brenda and Glennda Show''. ...

, Lady Bunny, Mimi Imfurst, and Sherry Vine. She also appeared as a drag-version of

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first Black A ...

on ''America's Next Top Model'' Cycle 14, Episode 5: "Smile and Pose" introducing a drag-theme runway challenge at Lucky Chengs in New York City.

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

Peppermint talked about being trans publicly for the first time on an episode of ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

'' called "The Trans Panic Epidemic" in April 2016. On February 2, 2017, Peppermint was announced as one of the fourteen contestants on the ninth season of ''

''. Though other transgender women have competed on ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', she was the first to have

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

prior to the show airing, having come out in 2012. She won the Roast Challenge in episode 8. She placed in the bottom two in two challenges, lip-synching to

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

's "

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

" and the

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the re ...

's " Macho Man", winning both. Her performances earned her the favorable nickname "Lip Sync Assassin". Ultimately, she finished in second place after winner

Sasha Velour Alexander "Sasha" Hedges Steinberg (born June 25, 1987), known professionally as Sasha Velour, is an American drag queen, artist, actor, and stage and television producer, based in Brooklyn, New York. Velour is known for winning the ninth seaso ...

, after they both lip-synced to

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

's " It's Not Right but It's Okay (Thunderpuss Remix)".

Music

Peppermint's debut studio album ''Hardcore Glamour'' was self-released in 2009 and preceded by the singles "Servin' It Up" and "Thought Ya Knew". In 2011, Sherry Vine and Peppermint released a parody of the

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

song "

Telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

" titled "Make Me Moan". Following the viral success of the music video, Peppermint later released other parody songs, including a parody of

Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. S ...

' song "

212 Year 212 ( CCXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asper and Camilius (or, less frequently, year 965 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 212 for this ye ...

", titled "21/12". Her song "If I Steal Your Boyfriend" was used in the 2011 film '' Eating Out 5: The Open Weekend''. On April 3, 2017, Peppermint released a six-track EP of remixes of various songs she had released up to that point, including the single "Dolla in My Titty". Her second studio album ''Black Pepper'' was released in June of the same year. A three-song EP with producer Cazwell called ''Blend'' was released in 2018. In 2019, Peppermint appeared on fellow Drag Race alum

Trinity the Tuck Ryan A. Taylor, known professionally as Trinity "The Tuck" Taylor or just Trinity the Tuck (born December 10, 1984),Taylor in is an American drag queen, television personality, and recording artist best known for having competed on the ninth se ...

's single "I Call Shade", which charted at number 13 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Comedy Digital Tracks chart. On February 11, 2020, it was announced that Peppermint was working on a new album, and the lead single "What You're Looking For" was released on February 14, 2020. In an interview with

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

on August 28, 2020, Peppermint stated that the album would in fact be a trilogy of EPs, and that a full studio album was previously planned for a May 2020 release but was delayed due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The first of these EPs, '' A Girl Like Me: Letters to My Lovers'', will be released on October 16, 2020, with the lead single "Best Sex" being released on October 2. Of the project, she said "it really does focus on my life -- who I am as a trans woman -- and everything that's happening right now

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

, Black Trans Lives Matter and a lot of the issues that we are dealing with socially." She also confirmed that the project would feature collaborations with

Laith Ashley Laith Ashley De La Cruz (born July 6, 1989) is an American Model (person), model, actor, activism, activist, singer-songwriter and entertainer of Dominican descent. Early life Laith grew up in a Dominican Americans, Dominican American household i ...

, Jerome Bell, Daniel Shevlin of Well-Strung, Matt Katz-Bohen of Blondie, Corey Tut and Adam Joseph. The EP garnered Peppermint a nomination for Outstanding Music Artist at the 2021

GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

. On November 17, 2023, Peppermint released the debut single "STILETTO" with her newly announced pop music supergroup TransSisterRadio consisting of fellow members CASio (Clint Ashley Spires) original member of NYC underground music groups DaLipstyxx (Paper Magazine's Sounds of the City), THE KIKI TWINS and Synthia (Stephan Alexander) stage performer and recording artist. TransSisterRadio released their highly anticipated follow-up single “TASTY” on March 22, 2024. They subsequently made their debut performance and first public appearance on April 4, 2024, at the party LolliPOP at the club RedEye NY. As of April 20, 2024 “STILETTO” and its remixes by DJ Erik Elias & NOAH along with “TASTY” have amassed more than 200,000+ streams on Spotify.

Acting

Peppermint and Alyssa Edwards at Dragcon by dvsross

Peppermint made her

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

debut in

-inspired musical '' Head Over Heels'' using the songs of The Go-Go's. The plot of the show is somewhat based on ''

The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia ''The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia'', also known simply as the ''Arcadia'', is a long prose pastoral romance by Sir Philip Sidney written towards the end of the 16th century. Having finished one version of his text, Sidney later significantly ...

'' written by Sir

Philip Sidney Sir Philip Sidney (30 November 1554 – 17 October 1586) was an English poet, courtier, scholar and soldier who is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan age. His works include a sonnet sequence, ' ...

in the 16th century. The show began previews in June 2018 and officially opened July 2018, at the

Hudson Theatre The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the ...

; playing the role of Pythio, Peppermint became the first trans woman to originate a principal role on Broadway. Writing for ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'', Greg Evans summed up his impression of the musical as "occasionally amusing, occasionally cloying", expressing disappointment that many popular Go-Go's songs appeared to have been flattened over the years the musical spent in development. In ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', Kelly Connolly viewed the show more favorably, praising "the charismatic cast" and Michael Mayer's "joyful production"; she gave the A− score overall. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''s critic

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher, and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 t ...

's review drew criticism as

transphobic Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social ...

and misgendering of Peppermint's character. The ''Times'' subsequently edited the review and Brantley apologized for it, writing that he had tried to "reflect the light tone of the show". The show closed in January 2019. Peppermint has had appearances on '' Pose'' and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', and in October 2019 played the role of Pastor Olivia, "the ransgenderleader of an LGBTQ-friendly congregation", in a two-episode arc of ''

God Friended Me ''God Friended Me'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. It stars Brandon Micheal Hall, Violett Beane, Suraj Sharma, Javicia Leslie, Joe Morton and Erica Gimpel. The series was ordered ...

''.

Continued career

From 2019 to 2020, she co-hosted ''It's a Mess'' podcast with Cazwell. Peppermint is a co-founder of ''Black Queer Town Hall'' along with Bob The Drag Queen. The inaugural event featured speakers such as

Laverne Cox Laverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBTQ advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series '' Orange Is the New Black'', becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a ...

and

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of ...

and raised over $270,000 for The Okra Project. On June 2, 2021, Peppermint was announced as a cast member of

OUTtv OUTtv is a Canadian English language specialty channel and streaming network that was launched in September 2001. The brand focuses on general entertainment and lifestyle programming serving Canadian and international LGBT+ communities. The ...

's ''

Call Me Mother ''Call Me Mother'' is a Canadian reality television series, which premiered on OutTV (Canada), OutTV in 2021. Hosted by ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' reporter Dallas Dixon, the series is a drag (clothing), drag competition which will see up-a ...

'', where her and fellow "Drag Mothers"

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

and Barbada de Barbades adopt and mentor up-and-coming drag talent over an eight-week journey as they compete to win the title of "First Child Of Drag" and a $50,000 prize package. In the show, Peppermint will be representing the House of Dulcet. In September 2023, it was announced that Peppermint would be a contestant on Peacock's second season of ''

''. The season was released in January 2024.

Public image

She does not use her birth name, and asks that publications not deadname her. For several years, she went by the name "Angel", which derived from her portraying Angel in a

one-act A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

production of ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

''.

Discography

Studio albums

Comedy albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Music videos

Parody music videos

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio series

Web series

Music video appearances

Theatre credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peppermint 1979 births Living people 21st-century African-American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women singers Actresses from Pennsylvania Actresses from Wilmington, Delaware African-American drag queens American drag queens African-American LGBTQ people African-American songwriters African-American women singers American house musicians American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters American transgender musicians American transgender actresses American women singer-songwriters Contemporary R&B singers Drag performers from New York City LGBTQ hip-hop musicians LGBTQ people from Delaware LGBTQ people from Pennsylvania Nightlife in New York City Participants in Canadian reality television series People from Hershey, Pennsylvania RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Transgender drag performers Transgender history in the United States Transgender rights activists Transgender songwriters LGBTQ women singers Transgender women singers Drag performers from Pennsylvania Drag performers from Delaware