DWV was an American pop

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, consisting of drag queens

Detox Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...

Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the fourth season of ''R ...

, and Vicky Vox. They found fame with the release of " Chow Down (at Chick-Fil-A)" in March 2012, a parody of "

Hold On Hold On may refer to: Music Albums and EPs * ''Hold On!'' (album), by Herman's Hermits, 1966 * ''Hold On'' (Trapeze album), or the title song, 1978 * ''Hold On'' (High Inergy album), 1980 * ''Hold On'' (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album), 1987 * ...

" by

Wilson Phillips Wilson Phillips is an American pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The group consists of Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, and Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of th ...

, satirizing

Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...

's controversial stance on

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. The single's music video went viral online. They followed this up with the January 2013 release of "

Boy Is a Bottom "Boy Is a Bottom" is a song by American singer and drag queen Willam Belli, featuring Detox and Vicky Vox ( DWV). The song was released to coincide with the fifth season premiere of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. The original music video went viral. As ...

", a parody of the

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

song " Girl on Fire", which proved to be even more popular, amassing 25.8 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, as of 2022. Between 2012 and 2014, DWV released seven singles together commercially, three of which charted on the ''Billboard'' Comedy Digital Songs chart. In June 2014, it was officially confirmed by all three members on social media platforms that the group had split.

History

''Drag Race'' beginnings

Willam Belli was a contestant on the fourth 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 ...

'', which premiered in 2012 while Detox was a contestant on the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', which premiered in January 2013. Vicky Vox has yet to make an appearance on ''Drag Race''. The three queens began working together, releasing music, and touring as a group in 2012 following Willam's appearance on ''Drag Race''.

Viral success

In March 2012, DWV released their first collaborative single " Chow Down (at Chick-fil-A)" on Belli's personal

channel. The song, a parody of "

" by

satirizing

's controversial stance on

, went viral online. In December 2012, DWV embarked on a 60-day world tour, promoting their singles throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and also in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. In January 2013, following up on the success of their first single, DWV released another music video, this time for their single "

", coinciding with the premiere of the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', on which Detox was a contestant. The song is a parody of the Inferno version of Alicia Key's " Girl on Fire". The song features lyrics that satirize

sex positions A sex position is a position of the body that people use for sexual intercourse or other sexual activities. Sexual acts are generally described by the positions the participants adopt in order to perform those acts. Though sexual intercourse ge ...

, specifically

tops Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), S ...

and bottoms during

anal intercourse Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. Ot ...

. The song proved to be even more popular than their previous single, amassing 25 million views on

, as of 2021. In May 2013, DWV released "Silicone", alongside the premiere of the reunion episode of the ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' season five. Written by Willam Belli, the song is a parody of

Robyn Robin Miriam Carlsson (born 12 June 1979), known as Robyn (), is a Swedish pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. She arrived on the music scene with her 1995 debut album, ''Robyn Is Here'', which produced two Billboard Hot 100, ''Bil ...

's "

Dancing On My Own "Dancing On My Own" is a song by Swedish singer-songwriter Robyn, released on 20 April 2010 as the lead single from her fifth studio album, ''Body Talk Pt. 1'' (2010), the first in her ''Body Talk'' series. "Dancing On My Own" was produced by ...

". The single marked the singing debut of Detox, who usually rapped verses in the group's songs rather than singing them. It also is the first to have been released officially under the DWV group name. In 2013, DWV became the faces of a limited edition selection of OCC Makeup Lip Tar and & Nail Lacquer packs. In September 2013, DWV released another single called "Blurred Bynes", a parody of Robin Thicke's "

Blurred Lines "Blurred Lines" is a song by American singer Robin Thicke featuring American rappers T.I. and Pharrell Williams from the former's sixth studio album of the same name (2013). Solely produced by Williams, it was released as the album's lead si ...

". The song pokes fun at

Amanda Bynes Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress, known for her work in television and film throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Bynes began her career as a child actress, working on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series ''All That'' ...

' new image on social media including her hair, new breast implants, and her infamous tweet to

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

. On 10 December 2013, DWV released a Christmas single, "That Christmas Song", using many elements of

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

's ''

All That ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tollin/Robbins P ...

''. On March 8, 2014, they released another single and music video called "Gaycation". Between 2012 and 2014, DWV released seven singles together commercially, three of which charted on the ''Billboard'' Comedy Digital Songs chart.

Breakup

In June 2014, rumors circulated on social media platforms that the trio had broken up and all three members addressed the situation, confirming that they had chosen to part ways due to conflicts between them. Belli tweeted that DWV had broken up because "it was just time", Vox stated that "it was fun for a while", and Detox lamented feeling "piegon-holed" by the group. Belli subsequently posted that "DMV is dead" on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and explained further in a response on

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

We never planned stuff really and we just don’t have anything coming up. We were just friends putting songs out who then turned into DWV. I would think of something and then we’d round up and do it (exception- Chow Down we all thought of and Gaycation was De’s idea but we all wrote). We no longer have time to make stuff happen like we once did. That’s the reality of it. I think when people paid us to be the supergroup DWV for their own products, the ending result video wasn’t as whoreganic and fun as what we were known for.The last two years have been a whirlwind of unexpectedness that I wouldn’t trade for anything but I am looking forward to dealing with one tranimal instead of three for a while professionally. It’s just less variables and I’m a creative despot.

Members

(born June 30, 1982) is an American actor, drag queen, and singer-songwriter from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, based in Los Angeles. She first gained fame for her recurring role as a

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 ...

woman named Cherry Peck in Ryan Murphy's television series ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

''. Willam achieved further prominence as a contestant on the fourth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' in 2012, but was disqualified in the "Frenemies" challenge episode, marking the show's first disqualification. In 2018, she appeared in the critically acclaimed film '' A Star Is Born''. For her performance on the dark comedy web series ''

EastSiders ''EastSiders'' is an American dark comedy web series created by Kit Williamson. It premiered on YouTube on December 14, 2012, and began streaming through Logo TV's website on April 23, 2013. Set in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, the series follows coup ...

'', she was nominated for a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Digital Daytime Drama Series. 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 ninth on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former ''Drag Race'' contestants. Matthew Sanderson (born June 3, 1985), known mononymously as

, is an American drag queen and recording artist from

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, based in California. Detox was a contestant on season five of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', placing fourth, and also competed on the second season of '' All Stars'', placing as a runner-up. Detox has appeared in music videos with

Ke$ha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...

and

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 ...

and is a member of

Chad Michaels Chad Michael Storbeck, known professionally as Chad Michaels (born March 20, 1971), is an American drag performer and professional Cher impersonator. He was the runner-up of the fourth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', alongside Phi Phi O'Hara, ...

' Dreamgirls Revue, the longest-running female-impersonation show in California. In June 2019, a panel of judges from ''New York'' magazine placed her 14th on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former ''Drag Race'' contestants. Vicky Vox is an American actor, drag queen, and singer-songwriter based in California. Vox is Detox's drag daughter. She is known for performing live instead of lip syncing. In 2015, she played a supporting role in the 2015 feature film ''

Magic Mike XXL ''Magic Mike XXL'' is a 2015 American comedy-drama film directed by Gregory Jacobs, written by Reid Carolin and starring Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Kevin Nash and Joe Manganiello. A sequel to 2012's ''Magic Mike'', the film premiered in Hollywo ...

''. She also has her own YouTube web series called ''The Vicky Vox Project'', and has performed on stage in a London production of '' Little Shop Of Horrors.''

Discography

Singles

References

{{Authority control 2012 establishments in California 2014 disestablishments in California American musical trios American pop music groups Drag groups Musical groups disestablished in 2014 Musical groups established in 2012