Since 1955, Guinness World Records has named the best and brightest in categories both broad and obscure, from “Tallest Living Woman” to “Fastest time to make a pasta necklace.” Plus, who could miss those big multi-colored coffee table books released every year? As a child, my own relationship to the Guinness World Records books was that each year they were filled with the coolest, most interesting facts to know about the world, from the widest to the smallest, the oldest to the youngest, and everything in between. So this year, as American drag artists set records both new and old, it’s exciting to see a topic I’ve spent a great deal of my own life researching to be a part of the Guinness World Records in an even larger way.

Guinness World Records is no stranger to drag, and its categories go back at least two decades. In fact, it’s had many explicitly queer categories over the last few years, including “Largest LGBTQ March” (2019) and “First lesbian character in a multiplayer FPS,” (2016) among others. Queer participants have also won titles, like “Highest annual earnings for a television stylist,” (the cast of the original Queer Eye, 2004) and “Most steals in a WNBA Finals game,” (Breanna Stewart, 2024).

Incidentally, Guinness World Records was inspired to add more drag categories by the massive interest in RuPaul’s Drag Race. “Given the runaway popularity of the format, we felt that our audience would be intrigued to learn more about the history and the wider drag community, both on screen and off screen,” a spokesperson for Guinness World Records told Autostraddle. “As a result, we’re now delighted to have significantly increased the scope and variety of our drag-focused record categories, all of which can be discovered on the GWR website.”

Previous drag categories include “Youngest Drag Race Winner” (Krystal Versace on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2021), “Longest line of dancing drag artists” (144 people, also in the UK, 2012), and “Most People Attending a Drag Brunch” (412 people in New York City, 2023). The new and updated records this year were assembled with the help of drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys.

In an interview with Autostraddle, Jeffreys shared his belief that in a country where drag is facing regular backlash, cementing artists’ stature in the Guinness World Records makes drag’s past and present accessible not just physically but culturally. Once the information is there, he says, it can create opportunities for connection and even new events that challenge existing records!

Let’s congratulate the newest drag Guinness World Record title holders representing the USA.

Oldest Drag Queen: Rose Levine 

Rose Levine has been performing consistently in drag since she first took to the stage on Fire Island in 1955. Beloved by Broadway legends like Ethel Merman and Jerry Herman, Rose became known on Fire Island for her cabaret performances of jazz standards. Indeed, as the story goes, Ethel Merman spotted Levine at a party in the 1970s and stated, “That’s Rose, she does me.”

Rose also has a long history of activism that runs from the Invasion of the Pines through the AIDS crisis to today. She turned 92 in 2025, which makes her the oldest still-performing drag queen in the world.

Oldest Drag King: El Daña 

El Daña attends the “King of Drag” S1 Premiere. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Revry)

El Daña began his drag career in central California in 1965 at a gay bar in Fresno where he performed “La Bamba” by Ritchie Valens. Not long after, El Daña also became known for his renditions of Frank Sinatra, Julio Iglesias, and Tom Jones hits. It was his Jones impersonation in particular that drew the most attention — even from drag legend Charles Pierce, who is said to have told El Daña, “No one can do Tom Jones like you,” according to Drag King History.

El Daña became the world’s oldest still-performing drag king when, at the age of 80 in 2025, he performed onstage in Clovis, California.

Most Emmy Awards Won by a Drag Performer: RuPaul

Rupaul performs during the Gay Rights March April 25, 1993 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Porter Gifford/Liaison)

To any RuPaul’s Drag Race fan over the last 16 years, it will come as no surprise that the show’s namesake and host is currently the most Emmy-winning drag artist of all time. As of 2025, RuPaul has won 14 Emmys. Eight of these awards are for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program for RuPaul’s Drag Race; five are for Outstanding Reality Competition Program for RuPaul’s Drag Race, where he serves as Executive Producer; and one is for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program for RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked! where he is also Executive Producer.

Highest-Grossing Drag-Themed Movie: Mrs. Doubtfire

Featuring the inimitable Robin Williams in the title role, Mrs. Doubtfire was an instant classic when it was released in 1993. Its successes have only continued over the last 30+ years: as of March 2025, it has grossed $441,286,003, making it the most successful drag-themed film of all time.

One of  my personal favorite scenes stars actor, playwright and drag legend Harvey Fierstein in a montage where he and Williams arrive at Mrs. Doubtfire’s final “look.” Fierstein was cast in the role after Williams saw him stage a failed “lesbian fashion show” for a benefit Lily Tomlin held in the early ‘90s.

It turns out the First Female Impersonation Actor on Screen, another Guinness World Record Title created this year, was also American: in 1901, vaudeville actor Gilbert Sarony played his famed “Old Maid” characters in two shorts directed by none other than Thomas Edison, The Old Maid Having Her Picture Taken and The Old Maid in the Horsecar. Sarony’s Guinness World Record Title counterpart, the First Male Impersonation Actress on Film, was French legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt, as Hamlet in 1900.

Highest Grossing Drag-Themed Movie Franchise: Madea Cinematic Universe

Comprised of 13 movies, the films in Tyler Perry’s Madea franchise released in theatres have made Perry himself more than a $291M profit since the first film was released in 2005 (two were released on Netflix). Madea is “strong, witty, loving…just like my mother used to be before she died,” Perry once said. “She would beat the hell out of you but make sure the ambulance got there in time to make sure they could set your arm back.” Madea initially appeared in a play Perry had written called I Can Do Bad All By Myself, first staged in Chicago in 1999. It later became a film of the same name in 2009, starring Taraji P. Henson. The Madea character, inspired by Perry’s mother and grandmother and their senses of humor, wasn’t initially a role meant for Perry in the play — the actress meant for her didn’t show up and Perry had to get into drag.

Needless to say, it worked out.

Longest-Running Drag Queen Competition: Miss Fire Island Pageant 

The Miss Fire Island Pageant began in Fire Island’s Cherry Grove in 1966. It will turn 59 this year, making it the world’s longest-running drag queen competition. In the Digital Transgender Archive, you can see what drag looked like at the pageant in 1969, (note that the way drag and gender were discussed at the time were quite different, so proceed accordingly — some of the language and images are fetishizing; “transvestite” and “drag” are used interchangeably; performers are often referred to universally as “he”). The prize at the time was $300, and it’s since gone up to $5000. This year’s event, held on August 30, featured the legendary New York drag queen Ariel Sinclair and Drag Race runner-up Sapphira Cristál as hosts.

Longest-Running Drag King Competition: The San Francisco Drag King Contest 

With its 29th edition in August 2025, The San Francisco Drag King Contest became the world’s longest-running drag king competition. The event was originally created by lauded drag king Fudgie Frottage in 1994 with the hopes of advocating for drag kings in a world that had become increasingly focused on drag queens. Since it began, several iconic drag artists have crossed its stage, whether as MCs (Elvis Herselvis, Sister Roma, Fudgie himself), judges (Mo B. Dick, Wang Newton), or contestants (Papi Churro, King Lotus Boy). At the event, hopefuls are judged on their “talent, creativity, studliness, sex appeal, originality, humor, make-up/facial hair, and fashion,” Drag King History shares. It’s become an essential event not just furthering the art of drag kinging in San Francisco, but ensuring future generations of drag kings in the area.

Longest-running drag-themed restaurant franchise: Hamburger Mary’s 

Hamburger Mary’s on Church Street in downtown Orlando, Florida. (Orlando Sentinel file/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

When a Hamburger Mary’s opened in my hometown of Fort Lauderdale, my family and I sped over immediately. I was still underage then, so seeing drag in a place I was actually allowed to was a magnificent thrill. Though Fort Lauderdale’s iterations have since closed, there remain eight more across the country. In fact, Mary’s is now the world’s longest-running drag-themed restaurant franchise and will celebrate its 53rd anniversary this coming December. The first Mary’s (since closed) opened in San Francisco in 1972, and “came out of a pot-filled session involving the hippies and gay men that started the restaurant,” according to SFGate. “A fellow called Trixie (real name Jerry Jones)…wanted to open an eatery that offered up sass and style with a burger and fries.”

In the future when there are even more categories — maybe even “longest drag performance by a single artist” or “longest running drag musical on Broadway” — it’s possible, as Joe E. Jeffreys says, that a culture can continue to develop around trying to beat those records and thereby perpetuate drag’s reach. What would it have looked like to see categories for drag when we were growing up? A generation of people won’t have to wonder.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

When Sasha Velour started NightGowns, her now beloved New York drag show, she was three and a half years into her career. Still a baby queen by her own description, she was having trouble getting booked elsewhere; Brooklyn drag was always quirky, but many of her opportunities early on involved competitions where she couldn’t always be her purest self. But when now-defunct Brooklyn venue Bizarre Bar offered her an opportunity in 2015 to create a show of her own, she jumped at the chance. Now, countless accolades, television shows, theatrical performances, illustrations, and even a book later, NightGowns is still at the heart of Sasha Velour’s life. And it was a key motivator for winning RuPaul’s Drag Race all those years ago.

In celebration of the show’s 10-year anniversary, there will be a seven-show-run of NightGowns at La MaMa, a renowned Off-Off-Broadway theatre in New York’s East Village, beginning August 27. La MaMa was once home to drag legends like Divine and Ethyl Eichelberger. This week Sasha Velour, the NightGowns family of drag artists, and special guests will take to the stage in all of their own glitter and glory, ever a reminder that drag is an artform.

Autostraddle spoke to Sasha Velour about the 10th anniversary of NightGowns, the role of the show in times of upheaval, and why she keeps coming back to it.

Do you see NightGowns as a baby, as a project, as a mission statement, or another combination of experiences?

I love that. It is so tempting to call all our projects our baby. I have seen it grow up. It had growing pains. I feel like it’s reached some kind of maturity, as far as a nightlife event can. Now I’m convincing myself it is a baby, because it has this huge life beyond me. I think it grew in a way I could not have expected. I don’t know that I’ve shaped it that consciously. To survive as a nightlife show for 10 years, you have to keep adapting. I think the consistent thing has been trying to put on a great show for the audience that feels like it’s saying something a little bit different about drag than people are hearing elsewhere. I started the show when drag was booming in Brooklyn certainly. I hadn’t entered the national arena or international arena for drag yet, but doing so helped open my eyes even more to what the missing pieces of the puzzle were. And I’ve always been interested in how we can highlight the missing pieces from this conversation about drag. Because there’s always more to be said about drag, or at least I’ve built my life on that.

Can you talk a bit more about how you see NightGowns responding to the political climate now and over the past 10 years?

It’s always been a place of joy. Even when people bring heartbreaking drag numbers that make everyone cry, there’s still a culture of joy I feel pervades the space. That’s the kind of magic I don’t even totally understand. Like, how can you do art that is so heart wrenching, and then as soon as it’s over, all you feel is happiness? Maybe it’s the joy of watching someone succeed at expressing themselves in such a bold way, the freedom to say things that are painful, is a kind of release that brings joy, so that certainly feels like it is needed. Maybe that’s the escapist pleasure, but it certainly has a political undertone when people are being so honest through their artwork. Since we left Bizarre Bar [NightGowns’ first location] and started being able to charge tickets, that’s allowed us to use the raffle — that was always a part of NightGowns just so we could walk away not empty-handed as performers — as this community organizing tool. In the last three years, we’ve raised over $80,000 for direct mutual aid, going to Gaza, going to immigrants, especially queer immigrants in New York and in the country, for legal battles with name changes, for unhoused trans people in our community who need safe spaces. That’s been such a part of NightGowns’ mission recently, to have the queer joy of seeing art, and then also make it easy and fun to share our resources and help our community. That’s the history that inspires us all. I think it’s clearly written into drag shows that they’re meant to be engaged in community organizing to some degree. This is our solution for now. Who knows what more will be required of us? But we’ll be ready.

Given the government stance on drag currently, what does it mean to you to consistently do NightGowns and to offer performers a space where drag is respected as an art form?

I’m proud of it. It’s the thing I’ve done in my time as a drag queen that really feels like contributing to the legacy of this art that I love so much, that has given me everything to be able to share a spotlight and create this platform where people can feel proud of their work and proud to be a drag artist and like they’ve contributed something that’s going to reach around the world. When I travel, people tell me they’ve watched NightGowns numbers, and usually they have one favorite that’s a performance of mine, and then another favorite that’s someone completely different, someone who’s not touring the world. To bring those voices, those performances, into the conversation, feels like such a huge achievement, and that’s what drag is all about, the way that we give each other this royal platform.

What role do you see NightGowns having had when you look at your drag career now?

It’s still my only regular booking in New York, for various reasons. If you want some dependable work in drag, no matter what level you are at, you better be producing it yourself. That’s what I have learned in 10+ years in this business, and I hope that NightGowns continues to be a model for other overambitious drag performers to do the same.

There’s nothing as satisfying as running a drag show. You learn so much about this art from having to do all those annoying behind-the-scenes tasks, having to do that leadership of employing however many people it takes to put on a show. I learned almost everything that I know about drag from NightGowns. I’ve always approached it with the spirit of experimentation, and it’s been the space I go to try things —plenty of failed experiments at NightGowns, but always something learned along the way that has stayed with me. I found my voice as a host at NightGowns, and that’s what allowed me to go on television and talk about drag with confidence. Maybe the false confidence of a baby queen, but it’s continued to be the space where I figure out what I think drag is here for us to say. From the very beginning, I always had these scripts. When you’re in drag hosting a show, everyone has to listen to you, so my philosophy was, I better say something worth listening to every time I get on this microphone. I have this archive now of all the grand statements I’ve made at NightGowns over the years. I feel like they reflect their time and where I was at, but that everyone’s numbers at NightGowns have, too. Drag shows are this place where at best you’re experimenting, figuring out who you are, and changing who you are to adapt to the time and to reach new heights. The conversations we have backstage as people in this industry together, learning from each other, spilling tea about managers and venues and the way the culture has changed and stayed completely the same all these years, that is a sacred part of drag. I wouldn’t be the drag queen I am without it.

What makes you keep coming back to NightGowns, with all of your successes?

I feel like I have to do it, like it is my responsibility. All these blessings and I wouldn’t give back? That is so wrong. It’s also what I want, what I went on Drag Race to do. What I wanted to do the whole time was to have NightGowns live and be known and be the best of the best —the best from my drag family, that have always been amazing, and the best from all over the world that I could never have dreamed of agreeing to come to NightGowns. Because of the interest and knowledge of this show, I can pay people better than ever. I do pay the [known from] television and the local artists the exact same amount, which is very satisfying. It’s the vision of drag I’ve been pursuing since I first started painting my glitter lip and shaving my head. It feels like this is what it’s all for. NightGowns is my drag family and my home, even more than Brooklyn drag specifically. Like many drag performers, I’m actually quite introverted, and getting to know people backstage at a show is my comfort zone, more than going out and having conversations at the loud club. It’s thrilling with the show to see the way Brooklyn drag has changed, and meeting the kids who consider me mother or grandmother, to get to witness this generational change in the drag world, which happens so fast, that also establishes the sense of pride.

What are your plans for the future of NightGowns?

I’ve given up on planning. I know it will just come to me. I think I want it to run for another 10 years. I still can’t let go of the dream of traveling around the world, and people always are calling on me to do that. I haven’t quite figured out the logistics yet, and we’ve tried a couple of times. But there’s also something so divine about it being this New York show that people have to get themselves to the city to come witness or take part in so whatever happens, as long as people know the name NightGowns and know that it’s where you come to see the good drag, I’ll be happy.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Drag Race Philippines: Slaysian Royale officially revealed the guest judges, which includes every previous winner of their flagship franchise, as well as international winners like Nymphia Wind, Jimbo, Sasha Colby, and Alyssa Edwards. And yet, the U.S. iteration of the show has never brought alumni back to guest judge. The time has come for RuPaul to recognize that alumni guest judges are not only invaluable but crucial.

RuPaul has always been the only drag judge on the panel, though Raven sat in on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK when Ru was absent. And yet, many of the international franchises celebrate the alumni from across the globe with an invitation to judge. While there are fan theories that the lack of in-drag guest judges on RuPaul’s Drag Race is about Ru’s desire to not have another drag persona to take focus, it’s unproven. Having seen the success of alumni guest judges, however, it’s evident that they provide insight that no other judge can: they’ve been on the other side of the table.

‘Drag Race Philippines’ Celebrates Its Queens With Alumni Judges

RuPaul isn’t just a drag queen; she’s the world’s greatest drag queen. Likewise, Drag Race is no longer just a phenomenon; It’s a global sensation. While casual fans love it when they litter each season with megastars as guest judges, the real fans get excited when the international franchises bring in the alumni. The very first time it happened, Drag Race España opened its table by welcoming Drag Race Holland Season 1 winner, Envy Peru. Not only was she able to provide feedback in her native tongue, but she also inspired the remaining contestants that this could be them. Envy’s appearance on Drag Race España was groundbreaking, as it inspired other series to do the same thing.

Not every queen who returned may have won, but they still had the experience to understand how to critique the contestants in a respectful and constructive manner. It’s not that RuPaul doesn’t provide that sort of feedback, but it’s been decades since RuPaul has actually fought for the spotlight as a “nobody.” Winning Emmys isn’t a competition when you continue to dominate the category! Drag Race is groundbreaking as one of the only shows to have had alumni guest judges. American Idol, for example, has had many alumni return in a mentor capacity, but it wasn’t until Carrie Underwood joined last season that they finally had a judge who understood. She wasn’t a megastar who was instantly successful. She literally won the show, fighting for her chance in the spotlight. Though her season was met with mixed reviews, her presence was invaluable.

Perhaps a reason why RuPaul hasn’t given her children a seat at the table is that it would mean acknowledging the success they’ve had. Look, these queens are incredibly grateful to have been given the platform they have, in part thanks to Drag Race. But inviting them back gives the audience further insight into how drag is no longer niche — it’s a career. Trixie Mattel is a makeup mogul and media personality, earning her own HBO Max home renovation program. Alaska has dominated since winning, going from podcast superstar to penning their own Off-Broadway musical. Bianca Del Rio and Bob the Drag Queen have smashed it on the road as touring comics. And then there’s Jinkx Monsoon, who not only entered the Doctor Who universe, but is also an in-demand bona fide Broadway star. These are major success stories, and it’s not enough to just bring them in for a cameo. They are the kind of entertainers these contestants strive to be.

How ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Can Continue the Alumni Tradition

Drag Race Philippines is honoring the franchise by bringing in alumni who know what it takes to compete, bringing compassion and tough love. The three winners, as well as Season 1 and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World‘s Marina Summers, will be on hand as they bring Filipino pride to the stage. When it comes to the international seasons, the alumni who return to the show often do so because they might have a connection to the host country, through language or heritage, and always with immense pride. Some were a tad confused by Sasha Velour on Drag Race Germany, but watching the queens light up when she came to the Werk Room to speak to them was invaluable. This season of Drag Race Brasil, every Brazilian queen from the international shows will stop by because Brazilian pride rallied behind them when they competed. When Michelle Visage took over Drag Race Down Under, she invited Australian alumni to join her, and it made it one of the strongest seasons yet.

There is a solution to convincing RuPaul. If you look at Canada’s Drag Race, they invite alumni to guest judge out of drag, keeping host Brooke Lynn Hytes as the sole queen in drag. So, there it is! Drag Race is a self-referential show. The time has truly come to celebrate its history with alumni providing their voices as judges.