Joseph Michael "Joey" Santolini (born December 1, 1987), better known by his stage name Tatianna, is 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 ...

, musician, and reality television personality from

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He is best known for competing on the second 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, ...

'' and later the second season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars''. She released her debut album, '' T1'', in 2018.

Early life

Santolini was born on December 1, 1987 in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. He is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

descent. He originally attended Yorktown High School, but moved to Falls Church High School after his freshman year due to bullying. He received a license in

cosmetology Cosmetology (from Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''-logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/ pedicures, non-permanent hair removal suc ...

after his senior year in high school, from where he graduated in 2006. He started dressing as a girl when he was fourteen, occasionally attended school in drag, and started drag professionally in 2007; his first show was performed at Apex, a gay bar in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He originally applied for season one of ''Drag Race'', but was rejected at the time. At the time of the cast reveal of ''Drag Race'', he was residing in

Falls Church Falls Church City is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is part of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of 2020, it has ...

with his grandparents, working at a hair salon in Arlington, and corresponding with his mother and stepfather, who were then living in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Career

Tatianna was announced as one of twelve contestants for the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' in November 2009. During the show, she won the first edition of the annual "

Snatch Game Snatch Game is a comedy challenge recurring across the ''Drag Race'' television franchise and a fixture of the reality competition series. Since the second season of the original American ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' series in 2010, the challenge ha ...

" challenge, playing

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

in episode four. She overall placed fourth in the competition after losing a

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 ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

's "

Something He Can Feel "Something He Can Feel" is a song composed by American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer Curtis Mayfield for the 1976 motion picture '' Sparkle''. The song, a love ballad in a Chicago-/Philly-soul style, became a number-one hit on ...

" to competitor Jujubee. Six years later, she was selected as one of ten contestants for the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'', which was announced on June 17, 2016. She placed in the top two in the first episode, but lost a lip sync to Roxxxy Andrews. She was controversially eliminated by

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

the following episode after placing in the bottom for his second snatch game as

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

. She returned in episode five and won $5,000 with Alyssa Edwards after a double-save lip sync to

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 ...

's " Shut Up and Drive". She was controversially eliminated by Alaska again for placing in the bottom that following episode. She finished in sixth place overall. Outside of ''Drag Race'', she hosted her own web show on WOWpresents called ''Tea With Tati'' which premiered in April 2018. She announced on June 18, 2018, the release of a new fragrance called Choices produced by Xyrena. Tatianna performed live with

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

on October 13, 2018, singing a duet of Charli's song "

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

". She portrayed

in the music video for

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's " You Need to Calm Down" on June 17, 2019. On August 26, 2019, Tatianna performed alongside Taylor Swift during her 2019 MTV Video Music Awards performance. As a part of

Pride Month Pride Month, sometimes specified as LGBTQ Pride Month, is a List of month-long observances, month-long observance dedicated to the celebration of LGBTQ pride, commemorating the contributions of lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender a ...

2023, she announced a partnership with the Washington D.C.,

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, and Eastern Shore branch of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Personal life

In October 2019, Tatianna was detained outside of an Atlanta nightclub when she entered an employee's only door and reportedly verbally assaulted an employee. No charges were pressed.

Music

Tatianna released her first single, "True" on November 8, 2010. A second single, "Touch" was released on May 6, 2011. Her third single, "Losing Control" was released on August 14, 2012. After a four-year hiatus, Tatianna released "The Same Parts" on September 1, 2016. He performed the single on the premiere episode of ''All Stars 2'' as a spoken word version. His fifth single, "Transform" was released on October 26, 2016. She released "Use Me" on November 28, 2017. Unlike his other singles, an official music video was released the same day as the single. He released her eleven-track debut album, " T1" on May 28, 2018. Rapper Cazwell and drag queen Salvadora Dali are featured guests on the album. A video for the fifth track, "CYA", was released on August 30, 2018.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Web series

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* * Tatianna o
Discogs
{{Authority control American people of Italian descent Living people American drag queens RuPaul's Drag Race contestants 1988 births African-American drag queens American LGBTQ singers 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers LGBTQ people from Virginia LGBTQ people from Washington, D.C. People from Arlington County, Virginia People from Falls Church, Virginia 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people Drag performers from Virginia Drag performers from Washington, D.C.