Joey Santolini (born Joseph Michael Santolini; 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 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 o ...

, musician, and reality television personality from

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

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, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'' 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 is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

. He is of

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

and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

descent. He received a license in

cosmetology Cosmetology (from Ancient Greek, Greek , ''kosmētikos'', "beautifying"; and , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'') is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty include hairstyle, hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/p ...

after his senior year in high school. He started dressing as a girl when he was fourteen, and started drag professionally in 2007. He originally applied for

season one Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguat ...

of ''Drag Race'', but was rejected for being too young.

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 challenge on the ''Drag Race'' reality competition television franchise. Beginning with the second season of the original American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', the challenge has taken place on every season since. It has also o ...

" challenge, playing

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

in episode four. She overall placed fourth in the competition 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 ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

's "

Something He Can Feel "Something He Can Feel" is a song composed by 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 the ''Billboard's'' R&B singles chart in the United States ...

" 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. He placed in the top two in the first episode, but lost a lip sync to

Roxxxy Andrews Michael W. Feliciano, known by his stage name Roxxxy Andrews (born September 23, 1983), is an American drag performer who came to international attention on the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and the second season of ''RuPaul's Drag Rac ...

. He was controversially eliminated by

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

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. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

. He returned in episode five and won $5,000 with

Alyssa Edwards Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson (born January 16, 1980), best known by the stage name Alyssa Edwards, is an American drag performer, choreographer, and businessperson. Edwards was known for competing in drag pageantry (notably Miss Gay America 2010) b ...

after a double-save lip sync to

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

's "

Shut Up and Drive "Shut Up and Drive" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna for her third studio album, ''Good Girl Gone Bad'' (2007). It was written by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers while the producti ...

". He was controversially eliminated by Alaska again for placing in the bottom that following episode. He finished in sixth place overall. Outside of ''Drag Race'', he hosted his own web show on WOWpresents called ''Tea With Tati'' which premiered in April 2018. He announced on June 18, 2018, the release of a new fragrance called Choices produced by

Xyrena Xyrena is an Austin, Texas perfumery founded in Los Angeles specializing in cruelty-free and vegan products certified by PETA and Leaping Bunny. Xyrena describes itself as "a defiant cosmetics startup that includes the world's first celebrity- ...

. Tatianna performed live with

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

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

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". He portrayed

in the music video for

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

's "

You Need to Calm Down "You Need to Calm Down" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on June 14, 2019, as the second single from her seventh studio album, ''Lover (album), Lover'' (2019). The fourteenth track on the album, Swift ...

" on June 17, 2019. On August 26, 2019, Tatianna performed alongside Taylor Swift during her

2019 MTV Video Music Awards The 2019 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 26, 2019, at the Prudential Center in Newark, being the first VMA ceremony to be held in New Jersey. Sebastian Maniscalco hosted the 36th annual ceremony. Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Billie ...

performance.

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. She performed the single on the premiere episode of ''All Stars 2'' as a spoken word version. Her 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. She released her eleven-track debut album, " T1" on May 28, 2018. Rapper

Cazwell Luke Caswell, known mononomously as Cazwell, is an American rapper, record producer and songwriter. He has released the three studio albums '' Get Into It'' in 2006, '' Watch My Mouth'' in 2009 and ''Hard 2 B Fresh'' in 2014, along with videos an ...

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
{{RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars American people of Italian descent Living people American drag queens RuPaul's Drag Race contestants 1988 births

Tatianna Joey Santolini (born Joseph Michael Santolini; December 1, 1987), better known by his stage name Tatianna, is an American drag queen, musician, and reality television personality from Washington, D.C. He is best known for competing on the second ...

African-American drag queens LGBT singers from the United States 21st-century African-American male singers LGBT people from Virginia