Kylie Sonique Love (born May 2, 1983), formerly known as Sonique, is an American

Entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers * Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Athlete * Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Circus performer * Clown * Club Hostess/Host * Comed ...

, singer, dancer, model and

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

personality. She rose to prominence as a contestant 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, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'' in 2010, and achieved further popularity by winning the sixth 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, b ...

'' in 2021. Kylie was also the first person to ever come out as

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

on any reality TV show and eventually became the first

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

to win ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 6'' returning in 2021 after 11 years from competing in 2010. Additionally, in 2020, she co-hosted ''Translation Season 1'', the first talk show on a major network hosted by an all-trans cast. Her first single, "Santa, Please Come Home", was released in 2018.

Early life

Kylie Sonique Love was born on May 2, 1983 in

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia ...

. She came out as transgender to her mother at 15 and later was sent to military school

Fort Stewart Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long and Tattnall counties. The population was 11,205 at the 2000 census. Th ...

to become "more masculine". She received a GED at the

Albany Technical College Albany Technical College (Albany Tech or ATC) is a public community college in Albany, Georgia. It is part of the Technical College System of Georgia and provides education services for a seven-county service area in southwest Georgia. The scho ...

. Her "

drag mother A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

" is retired Atlanta performer The Goddess Raven, a national pageant titleholder.

Career

Drag

Love was announced to be one of twelve contestants for the second season of ''

'' on February 1, 2010. She was placed in the bottom two in episode four and was eliminated after losing a

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

to " Two of Hearts" by

Stacey Q Stacey Lynn Swain (born November 30, 1958), known by her stage name Stacey Q, is an American pop singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. Her best-known single, John Mitchell's " Two of Hearts", released in 1986, reached number one in Canada, n ...

against

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 ...

. She later revealed that she is a transgender woman during the reunion episode of that season. In 2015, Love was one of the 30 performers that appeared as a backup dancer for

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

performance. In June 2018, Love was a backup dancer with McMichaels and

Farrah Moan Cameron Clayton, better known by the stage name Farrah Moan, (born September 11, 1993), is an American drag queen, model, actor, make-up artist and internet personality best known for participating in the ninth season of the reality TV show ''RuP ...

for

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Los Angeles Pride The LA Pride Festival & Parade, commonly known as LA Pride, is an annual LGBTQ Pride celebration in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest LGBTQ Pride events in the world, traditionally held on the second weekend of June, and produc ...

. She subsequently appeared in the ''

RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular ''RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular'' was a holiday television special, which aired on VH1 on December 7, 2018. The hour-long ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' special, announced on November 1, had former ''Drag Race'' contestants Eureka O'Hara, Jasmi ...

'' with seven other ''Drag Race'' alumni on December 7, 2018. She also appeared as a guest for the first challenge in the premiere episode of season eleven of ''Drag Race''. Love appeared in a music video for

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After col ...

'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 ...

", which was released on April 17, 2019. In 2020, Love co-hosted ''Translation'' on Out TV, the first talk show on a major network to be hosted by an all-trans cast. Love was announced as one of thirteen contestants competing on the sixth season of ''

'' on May 26, 2021, where she competed under the name Kylie Sonique Love, after previously competing under the

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

Sonique. On September 2, she was announced as the winner, becoming the first transgender winner in a U.S. version of the show.

Music

Kylie contributed to

Tammie Brown Tammie Brown is the stage name of Keith Glen Schubert (born September 15, 1980), an American drag performer, reality television personality, and recording artist. Brown was a fixture in the Southern California drag scene before appearing on the ...

's 2018 EP ''A Little Bit of Tammie''. She released her first single, "Santa, Please Come Home", the same day as the premiere of the ''Holi-slay Spectacular''. She released her second single, "Hey Hater", on April 24, 2019.

Other ventures

In June 2022, she was a featured model for Playful Promises' lingerie Pride Campaign.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Web series

Discography

EPs

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

External links

InstagramYouTube ChannelTwitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonique Love, Kylie 1983 births Living people American drag queens LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Atlanta

Kylie Sonique Love Kylie Sonique Love (born May 2, 1983), formerly known as Sonique, is an American Entertainer, singer, dancer, model and reality television personality. She rose to prominence as a contestant on the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' in 2010 ...

Transgender women Transgender drag performers