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Sharon Needles is an American drag queen, performer, music artist and Season 4 winner of RuPaul's Drag Race.

After winning, Needles released her own "horror" music videos and albums featuring artists such as Amanda Lepore, RuPaul and Jane County. She also started touring around the world, became a spokenperson for PETA, a big icon in terms of alternative style of drag and inspired a day named "Sharon Needles Day" in Pittsburgh on June 12, 2012.

Biography

Sharon had a rough childhood growing up in Newton (Iowa, USA) where she dealt with anti-gay views on a daily basis. She eventually relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2004 to pursue her love for drag.

Needles was in a long-term relationship with fellow drag queen, Alaska, during the course of Season 4. Alaska had auditioned for all four seasons of the show and had never made it. Sharon had only auditioned for her season and got selected right away. She felt guilty for this but eventually overcame it.

Though her relationship with Alaska didn't last, she was engaged to a SFX makeup artist, Chad O'Connell. They have broken up on July 2020.

Name Origin

"Sharon Needles" is a play on "sharing needles". As a teenager, she would move from city to city and changed her name every time, including Penelope Pumpkin, Pixie Stix, Franky Free-clinic, Randy Retarded and Nixon Cuts. With her brother, she would get stoned and try to come up with the most offensive drag names. It was a toss-up between Crystal Meth and Sharon Needles but, back then, there was no Google, so there wasn't a way of knowing how many other drag queens came up with the same name. Thus, she always says that Sharon Needles is like a governor; there's one in every state, but she's the President.

Track Record(s)

Sharon Needles
Statistics USA Season 4
Ranking: 1st Place
(Winner)
Maxi Challenges Won: 4 (Eps. 1, 3, 9, 11)
Mini Challenges Won: 0
Times as Team Captain: 0
Times in Bottom: 1 (Ep. 8)
Episode Eliminated: N/A

Memorable Quotes

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4

  • "Season 4 is going to be canceled!"
  • "Tired ass showgirl." (to Phi Phi O'Hara)
  • "I look spooky, but I'm really nice!... At least for now."
  • "3 words to describe Sharon Needles are: beautiful, spooky and stupid."
  • "You should have seen what me and Ru were on, at the limelight. It's all behind us now, we're on uppers, downers, and candy corns!" (as Michelle Visage on "Snatch Game")
  • "Hello Madame LaQueer! HAHAHAHAHA! I told her not to wear green! I hate it!" (as Michelle Visage on "Snatch Game")
  • "Though I may dabble in the black-arts when I hear RuPaul's music, I see the light."
  • "Dida Ritz, a lot of you girls like to clock me for painting my skin on the gray side, but I was inspired by your knees... and they're the same color as Willam's chin."(Reading is Fundamental)
  • "Jiggly Caliente, you're such a fat slut, after sex you smoke hams."(Reading is Fundamental)
  • "I LOVE PUSSY!"
  • "My hand works great on a snake."
  • "I fully support gay divorce."
  • "I have 'dignity looks' and 'paycheck looks'. Dignity is when I will not bend, for anyone. I don't care if I make a dollar, I'm doin what I'm doin. Then there's times the electric's about to shut off so I dress up like Lady Gaga."
  • "When in doubt, freak 'em out."
  • "I like spotlight, not sunlight."
  • "There's nothing natural about me."
  • "She ordered those tears from China."
  • "I’m working with a DILK: A Dad I'd Like to Kill."
  • "Well, I enjoy being down on a pole."
  • "Latrice is taking me to church with her lip-sync. I mean, my skin started smoking."
  • "Being booed off stage is just an applause from ghosts."
  • "Send me to hell, I don't look good in white."

Trivia

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  • Sharon Needles has been doing drag since 2004.
  • Sharon is dyslexic.
  • Sharon is vegetarian and loves to drink PBR beer.
  • Sharon served as a host on Logo TV for a month of horror films.
  • Sharon performed as Dr. Frankenfurter in Texas for a limited run of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and played in a theater version of The Craft along with Peaches Christ, Alaska and Honey Mahogany.
  • Her album, "PG-13", debuted at number 186 on the US "Billboard 200 chart", sold 3,000 copies in its 1st week (larger sales than RuPaul's 2011 album "Glamazon") and climbed up the "iTunes Top 10 Pop Album Chartreaching" number 4, between Josh Groban and Justin Bieber.
  • Sharon appeared in Kahanna Montrese's music video for "Scores".
  • Sharon, along with Alyssa Edwards, were the first two Drag Race alumni to be portrayed in Snatch Game, with Sharon being portrayed by Max. She & Alyssa were succeeded by Alaska, Jasmine Masters, Tammie Brown, and Coco Montrese.
  • Sharon is the first Drag Race contestant to ever to win four Maxi Challenges in a single season. She was later followed by Alaska in All Stars 2, Shea Couleé in Season 9, Trinity The Tuck in All Stars 4, Gigi Goode in Season 12, Envy Peru in Drag Race Holland Season 1, Bimini Bon-Boulash in Drag Race UK Season 2, Symone in Season 13, and Ella Vaday in UK Season 3.
    • The current record for the most Maxi Challenge wins in a single season is held by BenDeLaCreme, who won five in All Stars 3.
  • Sharon reached 1 million followers on Instagram on April 17, 2019, becoming the 19th queen in herstory to reach this milestone.
    • She is also the first queen who competed on Season 4 that has at least 1 million Instagram followers.
  • Sharon was initially chosen to be a part of All Stars 1 by the fans. However, due to the fact that she won Season 4 and was extremely busy at the time, she recorded a Facebook message to her fans stating that while she was flattered, she would not take part in the competition. Instead, Pandora Boxx took her place.
  • Sharon is the first winner to be a part of a double shantay with their later runner-up (Phi Phi O'Hara).
  • Sharon, Alexis Mateo and Symone are the only queens to get 2 wins both by the third competitive episode.
  • Sharon is the first winner to not be the last one to walk into the Werk Room.
  • Sharon is the only Drag Race winner known to not be in possession of her crown. It was allegedly stolen at a bar in Atlanta in November 2012[1], seven months after her crowning.
  • Sharon is the first winner to be in the bottom two but sent no one home until the finale.

Controversies

During the filming of Season 4, Sharon would call Dida Ritz, Lashauwn Beyond, Milan, and Latrice Royale the N-word. Dida revealed on the Race Chaser podcast that Willam was the only person on set to stand up to Sharon for doing so, and that production would just laugh it off, saying "No one in production reprimanded her yet she won the damn show!"[2]Needles also allegedly criticized a reporter who attempted to reprimand her for painting herself brown, presenting herself as black, and using African American Vernacular English (AAVE) after the reporter said ""What [she] did is known as ‘blackface,' which has its roots in white supremacy." Eli Kuti, a bartender working at the Blue Moon Nightclub where Needles performed, would end up quitting his job due to the offensive nature of her shows. Notably, Needles performed in a red shirt displaying a Swastika, a known Nazi symbol. She both did not deny wearing the shirt and rejected criticism for her behavior.[3]

In 2013, a fan of Drag Race named Annecy, age 15 at the time, began speaking to Sharon Needles and the two began speaking over FaceTime and social media. Annecy opened up to Needles about their self-harm and suicidal thoughts, and Needles encouraged her to keep harming themselves. When they met, Annecy opened up about swallowing pills and Needles' response was that "suicide is beautiful and that [they] should keep eating pills, and kept calling [them] an idiot and a moron.” Annecy claimed that Needles encouraged them to "cut deeper" when they would self-harm After winning a Drag Race cruise, Needles gave Annecy "shotguns of weed" and encouraged the teenager to drink alcohol. They claimed Needles was physically abusive, hitting them multiple times and at one point she "sat on [their] neck and choked [them].” Michelle Visage was made aware of what happened and reported the actions to the production company of Drag Race, who did little in response. Sharon completely denied all the allegations made.[4][5]

Gallery

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4 Looks

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 5

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 5 Looks

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 8

RuPaul's Drag Race Season 8 Looks

Discography

Albums

  • "PG-13" (2013)
    • (Tracklist: 1. This Club Is A Haunted House ft. RuPaul; 2. Call Me on The Ouija Board; 3. Dead Girls Never Say No; 4. Drink Till I Die; 5. I Wish I Were Amanda Lepore ft. Amanda Lepore; 6. Why Do You Think You Are Nuts?; 7. Disco Ball; 8. Dressed to Kill; 9. Let's All Die; 10. Kai Kai ft. Ana Matronic & Alaska; 11. (Everyday is) Halloween ft. Armen Ra; 12. Hail Satan! ft. Jayne County)
  • "Taxidermy" (2015)
    • (Tracklist: 1. Dracula; 2. Dead Dandelion; 3. Taxidermy; 4. Hollywoodn't; 5. Supernature; 6. Lucy; 7. Wendigo; 8. Glow In The Dark!; 9. Scream; 10. The Damned; 11. Whammy)
  • "Battle Axe" (2018)
    • (Tracklist: 1. Battle Axe; 2. Andy Warhol Is Dead; 3. 666; 4. Black Liquorice; 5. Jack-O-Lantern; 6. Brain Dead; 7. Dirty Diaper; 8. Rock n Roll Pt. 3; 9. Electric Chair; 10. Cocaine & Fuck; 11. Piano Wire)

Appearances

  • "RuPaulogize" (2012) by Willam ft. Sharon Needles
  • "Supermodel Inc. (Remix)" (2014) by Will Bond ft. Sharon Needles
  • "I Don't Give A Fuck" (2018) by Jiggly Caliente ft. Sharon Needles

Videos

Music Videos

Social Media

References

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