Daniel Anthony Noriega, (born September 29, 1989) better known under the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Adore Delano, is an American drag queen, singer-songwriter, and television personality. Noriega appeared as a contestant on the seventh season of '' American Idol'' in 2008 and later competed as Adore Delano on the sixth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race'', placing in the final three. Delano then went on to compete on the second season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'', placing ninth after voluntarily leaving the competition. Delano has recorded and released three studio albums: '' Till Death Do Us Party'' (2014), '' After Party'' (2016), ''

Whatever Whatever may refer to: Music Albums * ''Whatever'' (Adore Delano album), 2017 * ''Whatever'' (Aimee Mann album), 1993 * ''Whatever'' (Danny Thompson album), 1987 * ''Whatever'' (The Friends of Distinction album), 1970 * ''Whatever'' (Gre ...

'' (2017), and one EP ''Dirty Laundry'' (2021).

Early life

Noriega was born to Bonnie Pimentel Noriega and raised in

Azusa, California Azusa (Tongva language, Tongva: ''Asuksa-nga'') is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located 20 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown Los Angeles. ...

, and attended Sierra High School, a continuation school for at-risk teenagers.

Career

2008–2009: ''American Idol'' and early work

In 2008, Noriega appeared on the seventh season of '' American Idol'', making it to the semi-finals. He became known for his flamboyant personality and sassy rapport with the judges, notably a comment towards judge Simon Cowell, which later went viral. After watching him on ''Idol'', Rosie O'Donnell invited Noriega to perform on her R Family Vacations cruise. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres also invited Noriega to be a guest on her

show Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** Sp ...

. Following ''American Idol'', Noriega became a YouTube personality, performing skits in drag as Adore Delano, or Angel Baby, another drag character. In June 2009, Noriega released the music video for song "24/7," featuring sister Diamonique.

2010–present: ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and albums

After seeing '' RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestant

Raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

perform at the nightclub ''Micky's'' in West Hollywood, Delano was inspired to enter a drag competition at the club, later winning it. Following the win, Noriega started performing in Southern California as Adore Delano. Along with other ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants, Adore walked the Marco Marco runway for Los Angeles Fashion Week in 2013. In December 2013, Logo announced that Adore Delano was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race''. Delano had previously competed for the season 5 fan-vote, ultimately losing to Penny Tration. Delano eventually went on to win three challenges and made it to the final three. Along with

Courtney Act Shane Gilberto Jenek (born 18 February 1982), better known under the stage name Courtney Act, is an Australian drag queen, singer and television personality. Courtney first came to prominence competing on the Australian Idol (season 1), first s ...

, Delano finished as runner-up to season winner Bianca Del Rio. Immediately following the finale of ''Drag Race'', Delano released the single "DTF" on May 20, 2014, as the lead single from their debut album '' Till Death Do Us Party''. The full album was released on June 3, 2014, charting at number three on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart, 11 on the US

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart, and number fifty-nine on the ''Billboard'' 200. They released music videos for the majority of its tracks, including "I Adore U", which peaked at 49 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Songs. In November 2014, Delano announced that a second album was in the works with an anticipated 2015 release date. In May 2015, Delano announced they had started writing sessions for the album. Delano's album, ''After Party'', was set for release March 11, 2016. The first single, "Dynamite", was released on February 26, 2016; the second, "Take Me There", was released on March 10, 2016; and the third, "I.C.U.", was released on September 1, 2016. Adore was one of ten contestants on the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'', but chose to leave the show in the second episode for personal reasons. Delano's third studio album, ''Whatever'', was released on August 18, 2017. In early 2019, Delano appeared as a guest for the first challenge in the premiere of season eleven of ''Drag Race''. In June 2019, a panel of judges from ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine placed her sixth on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former ''Drag Race'' contestants. Later that year, in August, Delano was featured on the cover of '' Gay Times''. In December of that year, Delano joined the cast of the fourth season of '' Ex on the Beach'' appearing as both Danny and Adore.

Personal life

Noriega came out as gay at 12 years old. In a 2012 interview, she said she is not opposed to dating women. As of 2017, Noriega identifies as non-binary and uses any pronouns. Noriega says that "gender isn't a real thing... it's just something they came up with to categorize and control people".

Lawsuit

On April 4, 2017, Delano filed a lawsuit against former management company, Producer Entertainment Group, alleging Delano had earned $2.5 million over the past three years, though only about $300,000 was actually paid. P.E.G. counter-sued in January 2018, alleging Delano owed the company $180,000 in management fees. The suit was dismissed by a judge who awarded no money to either party.

Discography

* '' Till Death Do Us Party'' (2014) * '' After Party'' (2016) * ''

'' (2017) *''Dirty Laundry'' (2021)

Tours

Headlining *Till Death Do Us Party Tour (2014–2015) *After Party Tour (2016–2017) *Birthday Tour (2017) *Whatever Tour (2018) *Time Hop Party Tour (2018) *A Pizza Me Tour (2019) *The Beautiful Idiots Tour (2020) *Dirty Laundry Tour (2021) *Party Your World Tour (2022-2023) Co-headlining act *Battle of the Seasons 2015 Condragulations Tour (2015) (with ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' Cast) *Battle of the Seasons 2016 Extravaganza Tour (2016) (with ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' Cast) *ABCD Tour (2018) (with Bianca Del Rio,

, and

Darienne Lake Greg Mayer (born November 27, 1971), better known by the stage name Darienne Lake, is a drag queen and television personality. Lake began performing in drag in 1990 in Rochester, New York before rising to prominence after competing on the sixth ...

) *Heels of Hell Tour (2019) *The Annual Halloween Sickening Ball Australia (2020) Promotional *After Party UK Promo Tour (2016) *The Ghost of Ohio United Kingdom Tour – opening for Andy Black (2019)

Awards and nominations

! , - !scope="row", 2014 , Adore Delano , Drag Queen of the Year , , align="center",

Filmography

Film

Auditions

Web series

Music videos

References

External links

*
Danny Noriega
at IMDb * {{DEFAULTSORT:Delano, Adore Living people 21st-century American singers American Idol participants American musicians of Mexican descent American YouTubers Hispanic and Latino American drag queens Hispanic and Latino American musicians LGBT Hispanic and Latino American people LGBT people from California LGBT rights activists from the United States LGBT singers from the United States LGBT YouTubers People from Azusa, California Non-binary musicians Adore Delano American gay musicians Adore Delano YouTube vloggers Music YouTubers YouTubers who make LGBT-related content Singers from California Actors from California American drag queens Non-binary drag performers 21st-century LGBT people American male YouTubers 1989 births