Peppermint, or Miss Peppermint[2] (born January 31, 1980),[3][4] is an American actress, singer, songwriter, television personality, drag queen, and activist. She is best known from the nightlife scene and, in 2017, as the runner-up on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. In 2018, Peppermint made her debut in The Go-Go's-inspired musical Head Over Heels as Pythio, becoming Broadway's first out trans woman to originate a lead role.[5]

Quick Facts Background information, Also known as ...
Peppermint
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Peppermint in 2017
Background information
Also known as
  • Miss Peppermint
  • Peppermint Gummybear[1]
Born (1980-01-31) January 31, 1980 (age 44)
Hershey, Pennsylvania, US
Genres
Occupation(s)Actress, drag queen, singer, songwriter, activist
InstrumentVocals
Years active2001–present
Labels
WebsiteOfficial website
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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. In December 2023, she was announced as a part of the cast of the second season of The Traitors.[6]

Early life

Peppermint was raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware.[7] She felt her gender non-conformity was policed, so she tried to fit in with others' expectations.[8] She transitioned after moving to New York City and came out in 2012,[9] 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.[2]

Career

Early work

Peppermint started performing as a child in youth theatre, playing roles at Opera Delaware, Delaware Children's Theatre, and The Brandywiners Community Theatre. She continued performing at Wilmington High School where she was also on the cheerleading team.[10] For a time, she also worked as a makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics.[1]

Peppermint moved to New York City to study musical theatre at AMDA. While in college she got a job at the nightclub Tunnel's Kurfew parties, ultimately becoming a fixture in New York City nightlife.[11] She started recording music in 2005 for Jonny McGovern'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.[12] 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 in 2010. The series featured fellow New York drag queens Bianca Del Rio, Dallas DuBois, Hedda Lettuce, Lady Bunny, Mimi Imfurst, and Sherry Vine.[13][14] She also appeared as a drag-version of Tyra Banks 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.[15]

RuPaul's Drag Race

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Peppermint at RuPaul's DragCon NYC, in 2017

Peppermint talked about being trans publicly for the first time on an episode of The Daily Show called "The Trans Panic Epidemic" in April 2016.[16]

On February 2, 2017, Peppermint was announced as one of the fourteen contestants on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race.[17] Though other transgender women have competed on RuPaul's Drag Race, she was the first to have come out prior to the show airing,[18] having come out in 2012.[9]

She won the Roast Challenge in episode 8. She placed in the bottom two in two challenges, lip-synching to Madonna's "Music" and the Village People'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, after they both lip-synced to Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right but It's Okay (Thunderpuss Remix)".[19]

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".[20] In 2011, Sherry Vine and Peppermint released a parody of the Lady Gaga and Beyoncé song "Telephone" titled "Make Me Moan". Following the viral success of the music video, Peppermint later released other parody songs, including a parody of Azealia Banks' song "212", titled "21/12".[21] Her song "If I Steal Your Boyfriend" was used in the 2011 film Eating Out 5: The Open Weekend.[22]

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 called Blend was released in 2018. In 2019, Peppermint appeared on fellow Drag Race alum Trinity the Tuck's single "I Call Shade", which charted at number 13 on the Billboard 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.[23] In an interview with Entertainment Tonight 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 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 [with] Black Lives Matter, 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, Jerome Bell, Daniel Shevlin of Well-Strung, Matt Katz-Bohen of Blondie, Corey Tut and Adam Joseph.[24]

The EP garnered Peppermint a nomination for Outstanding Music Artist at the 2021 GLAAD Media Awards.[25]

On November 17, 2023, Peppermint released the debut single "STILETTO" with her newly announced pop music supergroup TransSisterRadio consisting of fellow members CASio (Clint Ashley Spires) original member of NYC underground music groups DaLipstyxx (Paper Magazine's Sounds of the City), THE KIKI TWINS and Synthia (Stephan Alexander) stage performer and recording artist.

TransSisterRadio released their highly anticipated follow-up single “TASTY” on March 22, 2024. They subsequently made their debut performance and first public appearance on April 4, 2024, at the party LolliPOP at the club RedEye NY. As of April 20, 2024 “STILETTO” and its remixes by DJ Erik Elias & NOAH along with “TASTY” have amassed more than 200,000+ streams on Spotify.

Acting

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Peppermint (left) with Alyssa Edwards at RuPaul's DragCon LA in May 2019

Peppermint made her Broadway debut in The Go-Go's-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 written by Sir Philip Sidney in the 16th century. The show began previews in June 2018 and officially opened July 2018, at the Hudson Theatre; playing the role of Pythio, Peppermint became the first trans woman to originate a principal role on Broadway.[5]

Writing for Deadline Hollywood, 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.[26] In Entertainment Weekly, Kelly Connolly viewed the show more favorably, praising "the charismatic cast" and Michael Mayer's "joyful production"; she gave the A− score overall.[27] The New York Times's critic Ben Brantley's review drew criticism as transphobic and misgendering of Peppermint's character.[28][29][30] The Times subsequently edited the review and Brantley apologized for it, writing that he had tried to "reflect the light tone of the show".[31] The show closed in January 2019.[32]

Peppermint has had appearances on Pose and Saturday Night Live,[33] and in October 2019 played the role of Pastor Olivia, "the [transgender] leader of an LGBTQ-friendly congregation", in a two-episode arc of God Friended Me.[34]

Continued career

From 2019 to 2020, she co-hosted It's a Mess podcast with Cazwell.[35]

Peppermint is a co-founder of Black Queer Town Hall along with Bob The Drag Queen.[36][37] The inaugural event featured speakers such as Laverne Cox and Angela Davis and raised over $270,000 for The Okra Project.[37][38]

On June 2, 2021, Peppermint was announced as a cast member of OUTtv's Call Me Mother, where her and fellow "Drag Mothers" Crystal 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.[39]

In September 2023, it was announced that Peppermint would be a contestant on Peacock's second season of The Traitors. The season was released in January 2024.[40]

Public image

She does not use her birth name, and asks that publications not deadname her.[7][41] For several years, she went by the name "Angel", which derived from her portraying Angel in a one-act production of Rent.[42]

Discography

Quick Facts Studio albums, EPs ...
Peppermint discography
Studio albums2
EPs5
Singles14
Comedy albums1
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Studio albums

More information Title, Details ...
Title Details
Hardcore Glamour[20]
Black Pepper[43]
  • Released: June 21, 2017
  • Label: Hardcore Glamour
  • Formats: digital download
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Comedy albums

More information Title, Details ...
Title Details
Si-SIGH-Ety Effects[44]
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Extended plays

More information Title, Details ...
Title Details
Sugar & Spiked
  • Released: April 3, 2017
  • Label: JRED Music
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Blend (with Cazwell)[45]
  • Released: March 10, 2018
  • Label: SNOWCONE
  • Formats: digital download
A Girl Like Me: Letters to My Lovers
Letters (The Remixes)
Moment of Weakness: Letters to My Lovers
  • Released: April 22, 2022[49]
  • Label: Producer Entertainment Group
  • Format: digital download, streaming
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Singles

As lead artist

More information Title, Year ...
Title Year Album
"Servin' It Up"
(featuring Cazwell)
2006 Hardcore Glamour
"Thought Ya Knew" 2007
"Dolla in My Titty (Part 1)" 2013 Non-album singles
"C.L.A.T."
(with Aja, Alexis Michelle and Sasha Velour featuring DJ Mitch Ferrino)
2017
"Civil War" Black Pepper
"Too Funky"
(with Ari Gold)
"#Liftmeup"
(with Amanda Lepore, Debbie Harry, Greko, and Sharon Needles)
2019 Non-album singles
"What You're Looking For"[23] 2020
"Lift Them Up 2020"
(with Amanda Lepore, Debbie Harry, Greko, and Sharon Needles)
"Best Sex" A Girl Like Me: Letters to My Lovers
"A Girl Like Me" (Electropoint remix) 2021 Letters (The Remixes)
"(Put Your) Gay Hands Up"
(with Jan and Alaska)[50]
Non-album singles
"Here for It"
"Broken Home"
(featuring Jerome Bell)
2022 Moment of Weakness: Letters to My Lovers
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More information Title, Year ...
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US Comedy Dig.
[51]
"Category Is"
(RuPaul featuring Peppermint, Sasha Velour, Shea Coulee, and Trinity the Tuck)
2017 Non-album singles
"Thirsty"
(Adam Joseph featuring Peppermint)
"I Call Shade"
(Trinity the Tuck featuring Peppermint)
2019 13 Plastic
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Other appearances

More information Title, Year ...
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"We Three Queens" 2017 Manila Luzon and Alaska Thunderfuck Christmas Queens 3
"What Child Is This" Thorgy Thor
"R U Mad" 2018 Michael Blume and Shea Coulee Cynicism & Sincerity
"Pretty Girl Anthem" Jiggly Caliente T.H.O.T. Process
"Vision of Nowness" Original Broadway Cast of Head Over Heels Head Over Heels (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
"Heaven Is a Place on Earth" Jeremy Kushnier, Rachel York, and Original Broadway Cast of Head Over Heels
"Whoever You Might Be" 2020 Jackson Teeley Within Earshot: Anthems for the In-Between
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Music videos

More information Title, Year ...
Title Year Director(s)
"Servin' It Up"
(featuring Cazwell)
2006 Un­known
"Thought Ya' Knew" 2008
"Working Girl" 2009
"Excuse My Beauty" 2010 Brendan Kyle Cochrane
"Let You Have It" Karl Giant
"Fresh"
(featuring Adam Joseph and Cazwell)
2011 Un­known
"Dolla in My Titty" 2014
"Too Funky"
(featuring Ari Gold and the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9)
2017 Marsin
"Civil War" Mikhail Torich
"Blend"
(featuring Cazwell)[52]
2018 Brenden T. R. Gregory
"Black Pepper"[53] Assaad Yacoub
"Vision of Nowness"[54] 2019 Tyler Stone
"The Most Office"[55] 2020 Jake Wilson
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Parody music videos

More information Title, Year ...
Title Year Director(s)
"Make Me Moan"
(Sherry Vine and Peppermint)
2010 Blake Martin
"JLo Papi"
(Sherry Vine and Peppermint)
2012 Francis Von Legge
"3D End of Time" Un­known
"21/12" Francis Von Legge
"Epic Broadway Medley Parody"
(Sherry Vine and Peppermint)
2017 Un­known
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Filmography

Film

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2005 Beyond the Ladies Room Door Herself Short film
2006 Fur
2011 Finding Home Herself
2019 Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts Herself [56]
2019 Ru's Angels Herself Short film [57]
2020 Nubia: Amplified Themself OutTV original [58]
2021 Being Bebe Themself Archive footage [59]
2021 The Bitch Who Stole Christmas Bea Eeep [60]
2022 Fire Island Peppermint [61]
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2007 CSI: NY[20] Sex Worker Season 3, Episode 14: "The Lying Game"
2009 The Real World: Brooklyn[62] Herself Episode 2: "The Outs and Ins of Brooklyn"
2010 America's Next Top Model Tyra Banks Cycle 14, Episode 5: "Smile and Pose"[15]
2010 Ugly Betty[63][20] Season 4, Episode 13: "Chica and the Man"
2010 The A-List: New York[64] Herself Season 1, Episode 6: "Texting and Tears"
2012 She's Living for This Herself Season 1, Episode 2: "The Peppermint Episode"
2016 The Daily Show Herself Season 21, Episode 86. "April 6—Angelica Ross"[65][66]
2017 RuPaul's Drag Race Contestant Season 9, Runner up
2018 Herself (guest) Season 10, Episode: 10s Across the Board[67]
2017 Breakfast Television Toronto[68] Herself Guest
2018 Saturday Night Live[33] Drag Queen Guest Appearance; Episode: "Steve Carell/Ella Mai"
2019 Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Drag Queen Guest Appearance
2019 Pose Euphoria Guest Appearance
2019 God Friended Me Pastor Olivia Guest Appearance (2 Episodes)
2019 Hey Qween Herself (guest) Guest appearance
2020 Deputy[69] Daisy Episode 1: "Graduation Day"
2020 Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen[70] Herself Season 17, Episode 43
2020–present I Am Jazz[71] Herself Recurring
2020–present Translation[72][38] Herself Co-host
2021 The Sherry Vine Variety Show[73] Herself Guest
2021 Call Me Mother[39] Herself Drag Mother
2021 Schmigadoon![74] Madam Vina Guest, Episode: "Schmigadoon!"
2023 Survival of the Thickest[75] Peppermint Recurring role
2024 The Traitors Contestant = Faithful Season 2, 21st place
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Audio series

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Ref.
2021 Macbeth Three Witches [76]
2021 Hot White Heist Camilla Toe [77]
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Web series

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2010 Queens of Drag: NYC Herself Produced by gay.com [13][14]
2017 Untucked Herself Companion show to RuPaul's Drag Race [78]
2018 Drag Babies Herself Drag Mentor [79]
2019 Bestie$ For Ca$h Herself Guest, with Cazwell [80]
2019 Out of the Closet Herself Guest [81]
2019 Jag Race Herself by Attitude [82]
2019 Black Girl Beauty Herself By VH1 [83][84]
2020 The Only Review Herself By The Only Productions [85]
2020-23 The Pit Stop Herself Guest, 3 episodes [86][87][88]
2020 The Rocky Horror Picture Show Dr. Frank. N. Furter (singing double for Tim Curry) Fundraiser for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. [89]
2021 Wanna Be On Top? Herself Podcast, guest [90]
2021 DRAMA Herself Podcast, guest [91]
2022 In Transit Herself Guest [92]
2023 Marque and Hector turn Trash into Treasure Daffy Guest [93]
2024 The Traitors Postmortem Herself Guest [94]
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Music video appearances

More information Year, Song ...
Year Song Director Ref.
2008 "When We Get Together" (The Ones) Karl Giant
2013 "Christmas on the Dance Floor" (Greg Scarnici) Greg Scarnici [95]
2017 "C.L.A.T" Assaasd Yacoub [96]
2017 "Faces" (Mila Jam) Frank Boccia [97]
2017 "Expensive (Deluxe Version)" (Todrick Hall) Todrick Hall and Matthew Macar [98]
2017 "Let It Snow" (Christmas Queens) Brad Hammer [99]
2019 "Scores" (Kahanna Montrese) Brad Hammer [100]
2019 "I Call Shade" (Trinity the Tuck) Tyler Stone [101]
2020 "Mask, Gloves, Soap, Scrubs" (Todrick Hall) Todrick Hall [102]
2020 "Always" (Waze & Odyssey) Unknown [103]
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Theatre credits

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes
2018 Head Over Heels Pythio San Francisco, California, Curran Theatre
2018–2019 Broadway, Hudson Theatre
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See also

References

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