Peppermint, or Miss Peppermint (born 1979), is an American actress, singer, songwriter, television personality,

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 ...

, and activist. She is best known from the

nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, c ...

scene and, in 2017, as the runner-up on the ninth 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 2018, Peppermint made her debut in

The Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belind ...

-inspired musical '' Head Over Heels'' as Pythio, becoming Broadway's first out

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 originate a lead role. As a recording artist, she has released two studio albums, ''Hardcore Glamour'', released in 2009, and ''Black Pepper'', released in 2017, as well as five EPs, including '' A Girl Like Me: Letters to My Lovers'', which was released in 2020.

Early life

Peppermint was raised in

Hershey, Pennsylvania Hershey is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to The Hershey Company, which was founded by candy magnate Milton S. Hershey. The community is lo ...

, and

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

. She felt her

gender non-conformity Gender variance or gender nonconformity is behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A gender-nonconforming person may be variant in their gender identity, being transgender or non-bina ...

was policed, so she tried to fit in with others' expectations. She transitioned after moving to New York City and

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

in 2012, before she appeared on ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. While a contestant on ''Drag Race'', Peppermint revealed that when she had been a high-school cheerleader, she had been beaten up by a male member of her high school's basketball team.

Career

Early work

Peppermint started performing as a child in youth theatre, playing roles at

Opera Delaware Opera Delaware is a professional opera company located in Wilmington, Delaware. The company was founded in 1944 and is one of the oldest professional opera companies in the United States. To date the company has staged 198 productions of 104 operas ...

, Delaware Children's Theatre, and The Brandywiners Community Theatre. She continued performing at Wilmington High School where she was also on the cheerleading team. For a time, she also worked as a makeup artist for

MAC Cosmetics MAC Cosmetics, stylized as M·A·C, is a Canadian cosmetics manufacturer founded in Toronto, Canada in 1984 by Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo. The company is headquartered in New York City after becoming a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Companies i ...

. Peppermint moved to New York City to study

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

at AMDA. While in college she got a job at the nightclub

Tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

's Kurfew parties, ultimately becoming a fixture in New York City nightlife. She started recording music in 2005 for

Jonny McGovern Jonny McGovern (born July 12, 1976), also known by his character name The Gay Pimp, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician and podcaster. He has recorded three albums as comedic singer The Gay Pimp, appeared as a cast member of Logo' ...

's mixtape ''Jonny McGovern Presents: This is NYC, Bitch! The East Village Mixtape''. She contributed the song "Servin' It Up", which was produced by

Adam Joseph Adam Joseph (born Adam Joseph Hodges; January 10, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter, and music producer. Joseph has released two albums and 16 singles during his career. He is also the president of his own recording label, Jah Records. Jos ...

. The song was later released as Peppermint's debut single in 2006. Peppermint was featured in the web series ''Queens of Drag: NYC'' by

gay.com Gay.com was a chat, personals, and social networking website catering to the LGBT community. The site was a digital brand of Here Media Inc. In addition to community features, the site featured LGBT-related news and features. As of September 2 ...

in 2010. The series featured fellow New York drag queens

Bianca Del Rio Roy R. Haylock (born June 27, 1975), better known by the stage name Bianca Del Rio, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, and costume designer. She is known for winning the sixth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. Since her time on ''Drag R ...

Dallas DuBois Daniel Logan, better known by his stage name Dallas DuBois, is an American actor and drag queen. Early life Daniel Logan was born in Long Island, New York, on June 9, 1986. Career Logan first started doing drag in 2008. He had previously used t ...

Hedda Lettuce Hedda Lettuce is an American drag queen, comedian and singer who lives and works in New York City. The New York actor Steven Polito debuted his character Hedda Lettuce in 1991 on the Manhattan Cable TV show ''The Brenda and Glennda Show''. Lett ...

Lady Bunny Lady Bunny, originally known as "Bunny Hickory Dickory Dock" (born Jon Ingle, August 13, 1962), is an American drag queen, nightclub DJ, actor, comedian, and event organizer. She is the founder of the annual Wigstock event, as well as an occasion ...

Mimi Imfurst Mimi Imfurst (born March 2, 1983), the stage name of Braden S. Chapman (or Braden S. Maurer-Burns), is an American drag performer. She appeared on the third season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' and was a found ...

, and

Sherry Vine Keith Levy, known professionally as Sherry Vine, is an American actor, drag queen, and musician. Vine is the creator and host of '' She's Living for This'', a variety series on here TV. Vine works primarily in New York City and on Fire Island, L ...

. She also appeared as a drag-version of

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

on ''America's Next Top Model'' Cycle 14, Episode 5: "Smile and Pose" introducing a drag-theme runway challenge at Lucky Chengs in New York City.

''RuPaul's Drag Race''

Peppermint at Rupaul's Dragcon 2017 by dvsross

Peppermint talked about being trans publicly for the first time on an episode of ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' called "The Trans Panic Epidemic" in April 2016. On February 2, 2017, Peppermint was announced as one of the fourteen contestants on the ninth season of ''

''. Though other transgender women have competed on ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', she was the first to have

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

prior to the show airing, having come out in 2012. She won the Roast Challenge in episode 8. She placed in the bottom two in two challenges, lip-synching to

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's "Music" and the

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the release ...

's "Macho Man", winning both. Her performances earned her the favorable nickname "Lip Sync Assassin". Ultimately, she finished in second place after winner

Sasha Velour Alexander "Sasha" Hedges Steinberg (born June 25, 1987), known professionally as Sasha Velour, is an American drag queen, artist, actor, and stage and television producer, based in Brooklyn, New York. Velour is known for winning the ninth seaso ...

, after they both lip-synced to

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

's " It's Not Right but It's Okay (Thunderpuss Remix)".

Music

Peppermint's debut studio album ''Hardcore Glamour'' was self-released in 2009 and preceded by the singles "Servin' It Up" and "Thought Ya Knew". In 2011, Sherry Vine and Peppermint released a parody of the

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

song "

Telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

" titled "Make Me Moan". Following the viral success of the music video, Peppermint later released other parody songs, including a parody of

Azealia Banks Azealia Amanda Banks ( ; born May 31, 1991) is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, she began releasing music through Myspace in 2008 before being signed to XL Recordings at age 18. In 2 ...

' song "

212 Year 212 (Roman numerals, CCXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asper and Camilius (or, less frequently, year 965 '' ...

", titled "21/12". Her song "If I Steal Your Boyfriend" was used in the 2011 film '' Eating Out 5: The Open Weekend''. On April 3, 2017, Peppermint released a six-track EP of remixes of various songs she had released up to that point, including the single "Dolla in My Titty". Her second studio album ''Black Pepper'' was released in June of the same year. A three-song EP with producer

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 ...

called ''Blend'' was released in 2018. In 2019, Peppermint appeared on fellow Drag Race alum

Trinity the Tuck Ryan A. Taylor, known professionally as Trinity "The Tuck" Taylor or just Trinity the Tuck (born December 10, 1985),Taylor in is an American drag queen and recording artist best known for competing on the ninth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race' ...

's single "I Call Shade", which charted at number 13 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Comedy Digital Tracks chart. On February 11, 2020, it was announced that Peppermint was working on a new album, and the lead single "What You're Looking For" was released on February 14, 2020. In an interview with

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...

on August 28, 2020, Peppermint stated that the album would in fact be a trilogy of EPs, and that a full studio album was previously planned for a May 2020 release, but was delayed due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The first of these EPs, '' A Girl Like Me: Letters to My Lovers'', will be released on October 16, 2020, with the lead single "Best Sex" being released on October 2. Of the project, she said "it really does focus on my life -- who I am as a trans woman -- and everything that's happening right now

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

, Black Trans Lives Matter and a lot of the issues that we are dealing with socially." She also confirmed that the project would feature collaborations with

Laith Ashley Laith Ashley De La Cruz (born July 6, 1989) is an American model, actor, activist, singer-songwriter and entertainer of Dominican descent. Early life Laith grew up in a Dominican American household in Harlem, New York. He practiced individual an ...

Jerome Bell Vaughan Mason & Crew was an American funk and post-disco based group led by Vaughan Mason (October 24, 1950 – April 2, 2020). They are best known for their single "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll", which reached number 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Ho ...

, Daniel Shevlin of

Well-Strung Well-Strung is an American string quartet based in New York City that is known for fusing classical music with modern pop music. The band was formed in 2012 by band member Chris Marchant and producer Mark Cortale. The band consists of four members ...

Matt Katz-Bohen Matthew Jeremy "Matt" Katz-Bohen is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer. Since 2008, he has been the keyboardist for the rock band Blondie. Early life Katz-Bohen was born in Manhattan, New York. He started playing piano and the ...

of Blondie, Corey Tut and

. The EP garnered Peppermint a nomination for Outstanding Music Artist at the 2021

GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

Acting

Peppermint and Alyssa Edwards at Dragcon by dvsross

Peppermint made her

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

debut in

-inspired musical '' Head Over Heels'' using the songs of The Go-Go's. The plot of the show is somewhat based on ''

The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia ''The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia'', also known simply as the ''Arcadia'', is a long prose pastoral romance by Sir Philip Sidney written towards the end of the 16th century. Having finished one version of his text, Sidney later significantly ...

'' written by Sir

Philip Sidney Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philip ...

in the 16th century. The show began previews in June 2018 and officially opened July 2018, at the

Hudson Theatre The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the Hudson was built ...

; playing the role of Pythio, Peppermint became the first trans woman to originate a principal role on Broadway. Writing for ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'', Greg Evans summed up his impression of the musical as "occasionally amusing, occasionally cloying", expressing disappointment that many popular Go-Go's songs appeared to have been flattened over the years the musical spent in development. In ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', Kelly Connolly viewed the show more favorably, praising "the charismatic cast" and Michael Mayer's "joyful production"; she gave the A− score overall. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''s critic

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

's review drew criticism as

transphobic Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

and

misgendering Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

of Peppermint's character. The ''Times'' subsequently edited the review and Brantley apologized for it, writing that he had tried to "reflect the light tone of the show". The show closed in January 2019. Peppermint has had appearances on ''

Pose Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the human body can take. There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, but having specific nuances of meaning. *''Position'' is a gen ...

'' and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

,'' and in October 2019 played the role of Pastor Olivia, "the ransgenderleader of an LGBTQ-friendly congregation", in a two-episode arc of ''

God Friended Me ''God Friended Me'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. It stars Brandon Micheal Hall, Violett Beane, Suraj Sharma, Javicia Leslie, Joe Morton and Erica Gimpel. The series was ordered on Ma ...

''.

Continued career

From 2019 to 2020, she co-hosted ''It's a Mess'' podcast with Cazwell. Peppermint is a co-founder of ''Black Queer Town Hall'' along with Bob The Drag Queen. The inaugural event featured speakers such as

Laverne Cox Laverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBT advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a Pri ...

and

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

and raised over $270,000 for The Okra Project. On June 2, 2021, Peppermint was announced as a cast member of

OUTtv OutTV (stylized OUTtv) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language specialty channel that was launched in September 2001. It broadcasts general entertainment and lifestyle programming aimed at the LGBT community. The network is owned b ...

's ''

Call Me Mother ''Call Me Mother'' is a Canadian reality television series, which premiered on OutTV in 2021. Hosted by ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' reporter Dallas Dixon, the series is a drag competition which will see up-and-coming drag performers join ...

'', where her and fellow "Drag Mothers"

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

and Barbada de Barbades adopt and mentor up-and-coming drag talent over an eight-week journey as they compete to win the title of "First Child Of Drag" and a $50,000 prize package. In the show, Peppermint will be representing the House of Dulcet.

Public image

She does not use her birth name, and asks that publications not

deadname Deadnaming is the act of referring to a transgender or non-binary person by a name they used prior to transitioning, such as their birth name. Deadnaming may be unintentional, or a deliberate attempt to deny, mock or invalidate a person's gend ...

her. For several years, she went by the name "Angel", which derived from her portraying Angel in a

one-act A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

production of ''Rent''.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Music videos

Parody music videos

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio series

Web series

Music video appearances

Theatre credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peppermint 1979 births Living people 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Actresses from Pennsylvania Actresses from Wilmington, Delaware African-American actresses African-American drag queens African-American songwriters African-American women singers American house musicians American singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters Contemporary R&B singers LGBT African Americans American LGBT actors LGBT hip hop musicians LGBT people from Delaware LGBT people from Pennsylvania LGBT singers from the United States Nightlife in New York City People from Hershey, Pennsylvania RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Transgender actresses Transgender women musicians Transgender drag performers Transgender rights activists Participants in Canadian reality television series