Adore Delano: Not a girl, not yet a woman

Shannon Power
March 10, 2016

Image: Adore Delano. Photo: Austin Young

ADORE Delano has had a tough year – her father died, she broke up with her first love – but you wouldn’t know it chatting to her.

Runner-up in the sixth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Adore is on the phone to Star Observer from Los Angeles to talk about her new album and upcoming visits to Australia, but this poor journalist struggled keeping up with the bubbly queen, who was chatting enthusiastically at a million miles a minute.

The self-described “inventor of tomboy drag” who once proudly exclaimed “to all the queens who say I’m not polished enough, I’m polish remover bitches” is one of the most loved queens in the show’s eight season history and her catchphrase response to everything – “party” – has become a staple of drag race vernacular.

Not long after she left the Drag Race workroom, Adore released her debut solo album Til Death Do Us Party in 2014. Her second album, the aptly named After Party drops tomorrow and is a reflective piece of her tumultuous year.

“When they played me the 13 songs once the album was done, I just cried,” she said.

“I went through more shit since my first album. My dad passed away, there was a lot of tragedy and a lot of good times. This was the year after the party for sure.”

Adore admires other Drag Race alumni who share their souls in their music and after she poured her heart into making After Party she hopes the universal themes resonate with her fans. She also hopes there are some baby queens or young LGBTI teenagers who are inspired by her music.

“Writing about their personal lives is something I wish the queens would do more of, that’s what i like about Sharon (Needles, winner of season 4), she puts her life into her art,” she said.

“I’m telling my stories, like the story of meeting my ex-boyfriend in Perth. The First Breath is a song I wrote in Brazil. I hope it speaks volumes to people.

“I really wish I had this growing up. I wish there was a drag queen singing that bullshit to me when I was 13.”

Despite having had a hell of a year and having learnt a lot about herself, Adore still doesn’t feel like a fully formed adult. When I suggest she’s having her Britney moment: ‘not a girl, not yet a woman’, she screams in agreement.

“Yes. That’s it, I’m going to write that down so I can use it again later. Adore is in an in-between phase, she’s no longer Hannah Montana,” she exclaims.

“I feel like I’ve grown so much in the past year, but there’s still so much more I want to accomplish. There’s so many weird evolutions of myself.

“I’m a solid well rounded, self-aware drag musician.”

After Party is a solid pop extravaganza, but can be a harrowing listen thanks to Adore’s raw, emotional lyrics and it’s a sadness that is reflected throughout the album, even in its artwork.

“I wanted the cover to look like it was in a Grand Theft Auto (video) game. Whenever the video freezes, it’s always stuck on a girl with palm trees in the back,” she explains.

“There’s a kind of mystery there. There’s an irony and a sadness to it; it’s bright and sunny, but you can’t see the girl’s eyes and she’s alone, she’s lonely.”

The former American Idol contestant – Adore reached the top 16 as a boy in season seven of the show – will be making history when she comes to Australia on the official RuPaul’s Drag Race Battle of the Seasons (BOTS) tour in July. The popular tour pits former Drag Race contestants from the entire eight seasons against each other in a live show, hosted by Michelle Visage. It will be the first time BOTS has visited Australia. Other queens on the BOTS tour in Australia include; Alaska Thunderfuck, Ivy Winters, Jinkx Monsoon, Detox, Manila Luzon, Sharon Needles and Violet Chacki.

“It’s going to be a lot of slutty fun. I feed a lot on the energy of the audience, so if they give me energy it’s going to be a fun, bullshit show,” she explains.

“I think for the first time it’s also going to be all ages, so it’s cute the little foetuses can come and see us perform.”

Australia is Adore’s favourite place to visit (she really means it), even her favourite tattoo place is in Melbourne and she plans to catch up with her friends across the country.

“I’ve gained so many cool relationships in Australia. I can’t wait to find my next boyfriend there,” she quips.

Dates for BOTS shows are below the video: