The 20 Best Songs by Drag Queens (2024)

By

• Katya feat. Trixie Mattel, ‘Ding Dong!’

  

  Though she had grown more famous post-Drag Race thanks to a hit TV show turned podcast with Trixie Mattel, Katya didn’t enter the music game until 2020. That’s when she dropped Vampire Fitness, “a dark and brooding international musical boat ride through the brain and mouth of famous cross-dresser,” as she self-described it. The standout was her and Trixie’s collaboration “Ding Dong!,” a big Eurodance banger that leans into Katya’s Russian drag character by referencing Svetlana Loboda’s “Boom Boom.” Between the Boston native speaking Russian and saying various words in a thick Russian accent, Trixie makes a reference to Silence of the Lambs on the bridge. —B.S.

• Alaska Thunderf*ck, ‘Hieeee’

  

  Featured on Alaska Thunderf*ck’s 2015 album, Anus, “Hieeee” is as much a bop as it is an important lesson in drag etiquette. With her signature snide, dry humor, Alaska lays out the rules of the game quite simply: use flash photography, drink more, tell them they look gorgeous, and “tip these men!” The song has become a drag-show staple over the years, thoughtfully helping guide any drag-brunch bachelorette parties to acting into more acceptable behavior. After releasing Anus, Alaska appeared on — and won — Season Two of RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars. —B.S.

• Mirage Amuro, ‘She’s Such a Bitch’

  

  All it took was a minute and five seconds for Mirage Amuro to make her performance of “She’s Such a Bitch” an instant classic on Drag Race. Mirage gained the love of the audience with her choreography to the song, which started with her faking being pulled by a dog on a leash, before clacking her heels while doing a cartwheel, and later the splits. “You think I’m a bitch? Well you’re not that wrong,” she declares on the campy track that spawned a TikTok trend. Even though she was an early out on her season, with “She’s such a bitch!” Amuro went down in herstory. —T.M.

• Adore Delano, ‘I Adore You’

  

  Few drag-queen songs on this list get as personal as “I Adore U.” Adore Delano — who got her start by competing on American Idol as a singer well before Drag Race — sings and raps the self-penned lyrics about a real failed love story. “When you turn it back, do you ever wonder, if we could have tomorrow, in technicolor?” she raps on the Till Death Do Us Party standout. The angsty track helped lead Till Death to debut at Number 59 on the Billboard 200 in 2014. —T.M.

• Bob the Drag Queen feat. DJ Mitch Ferrino, ‘Purse First’

  

  Drag Race’s Season Eight winner first introduced the catchphrase “purse first” in the first episode, entering the runway with, of course, her purse first. Naturally, the phrase then became the basis for Bob’s first single following her win, “Purse First.” Unlike the many queens who have attempted to turn their viral moments into hits, Bob is as skilled a rapper and musical artist as she is a comedy queen. Thankfully, “Purse First” deftly showcases both sides of the star’s talents, many years before she would be invited to tour the world with Madonna. —B.S.

• Trixie Mattel, ‘Hello Hello’

  

  Garage rocker? Drag queen? Nah. Trixie Mattel — the musician turned podcaster turned hotel owner turned makeup mogul — led her album The Blonde & Pink Albums with the beach rock song “Hello Hello,” a step away from the country sound she became known for after her debut, Two Birds. The flirty, silly track quickly became a fan favorite and differs greatly from Mattel’s “Dolly Parton, if she never made it out of the country” sound that Brittany Broski described to Rolling Stone in 2022. —T.M.

• Gloria Groove, ‘Vermelho’

  

  Gloria Groove delivers a dance-floor-ready EDM-meets-Brazilian funk banger with “Vermelho.” The Lady Leste standout reimagines the late MC Daleste’s “Quem É,” with Groove singing about a horny “girl in red” (herself in the third person) who came to the party in a skimpy dress and cherry-red lipstick ready for a night out. “I drop it and twerk it for you with my hand in my booty,” Groove sings on the catchy track. “Vermelho” is so dance-y it even has a Zumba routine for it. —T.M.

• RuPaul, ‘Sissy That Walk’

  

  “Sissy That Walk” is a quintessential RuPaul’s Drag Race theme song. The track led off Born Naked, the 2014 album that dropped alongside the sixth season of Drag Race, arguably one of the most iconic seasons of the competition show. The electro-pop drag runway staple is mostly lyric-less besides two short verses, one in which Ru declares, “My puss* is on fire, now kiss the flame,” and her command to “fly” and to, of course, “sissy that walk.” (Gen Z translation: Get c*nt-y, bitch!) The song’s music video starred the Top Four queens of Season Six: Bianca el Rio, Darienne Lake, Adore Delano, and Courtney Act. —T.M.

• Priyanka feat. Lemon, ‘Come Through’

  

  Priyanka and Lemon know they’re bad bitches! On “Come Through,” the stars who became besties on Canada’s Drag Race Season One, continue their “LemYanka 2020” domination with the track’s enticing pre-chorus and catchy chorus, made to sing along to at a drag show. After a pair of verses from Pri (“Got a supersized umbrella/’Bout to put you in the shade”), Lemon suddenly delivers a fiery rap verse about “leavin’ boys breathless,” and does exactly that with her bars. “Your dad drops stacks on this and don’t forget it,” she raps. “He’s tryna find my puss* pics up on Reddit.” Ouch! —T.M.

• Pabllo Vittar, ‘Amor de Que’

  

  ​​A sexy saxophone introduces “Amor de Que” before Pabllo Vittar unleashes lyrics about loving (and having sex) freely. Its pre-chorus features a silly play in Portuguese, “Eu sento, tu sente,” which translates to “I sit down, you feel it,” and its title shortens “quenga,” or thottery, as “que.” We love a safe-sex, ass-eating anthem. The song is featured on Vittar’s album 111, which contains the singer’s foray into English with “Flash Pose,” alongside Charli XCX, who had featured Vittar on the Pop 2 hyperpop standout “I Got It.” —T.M.

• RuPaul, ‘Call Me Mother’

  

  Featured on RuPaul’s 11th album, American, this celebration of Ru’s impact continues to showcase her love for house music. Over a strut-worthy beat, the superstar rattles off everything that makes her iconic with a slew of tongue-twister rhymes. “Fishy, feminine up-and-comer/From the Clintons to the Obamas/I keep it tight, now they call me mother,” she declares on the prechorus. By the end, she calls back to the high-energy chants the MCs in ballroom culture perform on the mic while competitors take to the runway. —B.S.

• Valentina, ‘A Prueba de Todo’

  

  We’re ready for Valentina to enter her pop-star era again. The Mexican American drag star channeled the energy of Alaska y Dinarama’s Spanish queer anthem “¿A Quién Le Importa?” and brought it to the 21st century with “A Prueba de Todo.” The disco-pop song hears the drag star singing about having the strength to get up after any challenge, while declaring, “I’m a complete woman.” The catchy track was co-written by Andrés Torres, the songwriter behind hits from Luis Fonsi, Tini, and Shakira, and served as Val’s reintroduction on RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars 4 after becoming a fan favorite on Season Nine. —T.M.

• Alaska, Katya, Detox, and Roxxxy Andrews, ‘Read U Wrote U’

  

  It’s a Drag Race tradition to have the top four queens add their own verses to a song by RuPaul at the end of the season. Sometimes the verses are campy, other times they’re complete crap. But no reimagining has even come close to Alaska, Katya, Detox, and Roxxxy’s take on “Read U Wrote U.” Who could’ve prepared us for Katya’s Russian-accented verse with the hilarious line “That’s a rash, not a herpes sore/Lenin in the streets, Dostoyevsky in the sheets.” —T.M.

• Shea Coulee feat. Lila Star and the Vixen, ‘co*cky’

  

  Drag queens shine thanks to their unabashed confidence. “co*cky” is the materialization of that energy. Led by Shea Couleé, the track features Latina rapper Lil Star with an ultra-quotable verse in which she jokes about flashing her titt*es on Jerry Springer. (That’s camp.) Then, the Vixen joins for her own rap verse that ends with the one-line zinger “Why you mad? Fix your face, boo.” “co*cky” was a first taste of Couleé’s pop-star career. (Her 2023 album, 8, is a must-listen.) —T.M.

• Gloria Groove, ‘A Queda’

  

  There’s a reason why Gloria Groove is the most streamed drag queen on Spotify. The drag star is a beloved performer in her native Brazil, and on “A Queda,” she delivers fiery rap bars about a metaphoric circus over a creepy xylophone reminiscent of Melanie Martinez’s Cry Baby and the drums from Imagine Dragons’ “Believer.” The track even makes an appearance on 2021’s Just Dance video game, where (fittingly) a jester teaches players the song’s moves. —T.M.

• Divine, ‘Shake It Up’

  

  Few drag queens have impacted pop culture like Divine, the iconic drag character of Harris Milstead. Alongside her acting credits with John Waters, includingPink Flamingos, Divine dropped numerous electric-disco bangers in the early Eighties. The synth-filled “Shake It Up,” written by Hi-NRG pioneer Bobby O, stands out as a favorite. Divine’s legacy continues to this day, as she’s the inspiration forThe Little Mermaid’s depiction of Ursula the Sea Witch, and pop star Chappell Roan paid homage to the icon while performing a Kentuckiana Pride. —T.M.

• Violet Chachki, Allie X, Lecomte De Brégeot, ‘Mistress Violet’

  

  Allie X and Violet Chachki embrace their darkest fantasies on “Mistress Violet.” Chachki embodies the role of the dominatrix, or “bitch with a whip and Dior tights,” that the pair sing about over gothy, catchy Eighties synths. The track’s video sees the pair dripped in Schiaparelli and filmed on an analog camera, bringing the lyrics’ burlesque and BDSM visions to life in a retrofuturistic cyberspace. “Your pain and pleasure wife/I’m violent/Feels good to get it out/I like when you say ‘ouch’/Mistress Violet,” they sing. It’s campy, dirty, and lyrically driven. (Few drag-queen songs can say that.) Allie X continued the sonic influence of “Mistress Violet” on last year’s Girl With No Face. It was a great choice. —T.M.

• Conchita Wurst, ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’

  

  This year marks a decade since bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst made history by winning the Eurovision Song Contest with her goosebump-raising performance of the anthem “Rise Like a Pheonix.” The operatic ballad, and her stellar live rendition in 2014, helped Wurst become first drag performer to ever win the contest, earning Austria its first title since 1966. The song not only made history for her country, but for queer representation worldwide. On the track, Wurst’s powerful vocals, marked by her soulful vibrato, flow over the gorgeous backing of a full orchestra as she sings the inspiring lyrics about being transformed and reborn. —T.M.

• Pabllo Vittar, ‘K.O.’

  

  Pabllo Vittar is a pop star. Yes, she’s a drag queen who made history as the first drag performer to play at Coachella, but her artistry is defined more by the pop-perfect songs she’s released over the past several years. Through boxing metaphors, “K.O.” hears Vittar sing about falling hard for a new love: “Came up for air/Waved the flag/It was a knockout/Your love struck me down,” she sings in the chorus in Portuguese. “K.O.” became the catalyst for the singer’s stardom after serving as a single on her debut album, Vai Passar Mal. She’s earned co-signs from fellow Brasileiras like Anitta and Luisa Sonza, along with joining Lady Gaga on a remix of Chromatica’s “Fun Tonight.” —T.M.

• RuPaul, ‘Supermodel (You Better Work)’

  

  RuPaul’s early-Nineties hit was the one that changed everything. Released as the lead single for Ru’s 1993 debut album, Supermodel of the World, the dance song helped break the drag glass ceiling and became a club anthem. It was so beloved that even Kurt Cobain was calling it one of his favorite songs. The glitzy, catchy track is an instructional one to help you locate your inner diva, and it was just as important in making RuPaul the world’s most famous drag star. She would break new ground as the face of MAC Cosmetics and later become the first openly gay talk-show host. Two decades later, the star would lead the charge in further helping popularize drag culture with the long-running, Emmy-winning competition RuPaul’s Drag Race, from which many of the stars on this list have launched their careers. —B.S.