There was never a time when RuPaul’s Drag Race wasn’t the perfect show for popstars to judge a few queens on their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. However, over the course of 12 seasons, the franchise’s pull for A-listers has only grown. From Lady Gaga to Nicki Minaj and from Miley Cyrus to Lizzo – everyone wants to be associated with the Drag Race universe now.
Unfortunately, not all of the popstars who were featured on the show were able to match RuPaul’s energy on the judging panel. However, the ones who did have given us some of the best moments in Drag Race herstory!
Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams, one-third of Destiny’s Child, gets major props for being a guest judge on the first-ever season of RuPaul’s Drag Race. The show was still just a proof-of-concept back then, but the popstar was kind enough to meet all the queens backstage and provide passionate feedback.
In hindsight, Michelle Williams may have been a little tough when providing critiques to Akashia. However harsh, Michelle’s “I just saw a messy man,” line is arguably the first viral quote ever in Drag Race history. For being an ally to drag performers and recognizing the art form of drag before this franchise became a mainstream hit, one must celebrate Michelle Williams.
Paula Abdul
As a judge on American Idol alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson for eight seasons, Paula Abdul was an understanding and compassionate popstar who provided a much-needed warmth to the franchise. She was also featured as a judge on the 6th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, providing critiques alongside Georgia Holt (Cher’s mother) and Chaz Bono (Cher’s son).
There is no denying that Paula Abdul is an integral part of the Drag Race mythos. Four of her songs have been used for lip-syncs on the show, which is the same number of songs by Lady Gaga, Madonna, and Ariana Grande that the queens have had to lip-sync to. As a judge on Drag Race, Paula brought the usual energy that made her a great judge on American Idol.
Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert was the first popstar to be featured on season 6 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a season that had two contestants connected to the Idol franchise. Out-of-drag, Adore Delano competed on season 7 of American Idol (one season before Adam Lambert himself), and in-drag, Courtney Act competed on the first-ever season of Australian Idol.
Despite all of these Idol connections, Adam Lambert provided great insight on Drag Race – not only as a very successful popstar, but also as a fellow queer artist. On RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3, Adam was brought back as a guest judge and to guide the queens through recording an original song for their respective kitty girl groups.
Lizzo
It is certainly true that by the time Lizzo was featured as a guest judge on Drag Race, the singer and rapper had already released several songs and was well on her way to becoming the superstar she is today. With that said, Lizzo was a guest judge on season 10 of Drag Race, which was just before her explosion with songs like “Truth Hurts,” “Juice,” and “Good As Hell.”
For the most part, Lizzo played it cool as a guest judge on Drag Race. However, she certainly still provided fans with funny lines and great insights. In the episode, Monet X Change and Kameron Michaels lip-synced to “Good As Hell,” and Monet was sent home. Several Grammy awards later, it would be fantastic for Lizzo to come back to Drag Race one more time.
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande has been a household name since her time as a young actress on the Nickelodeon shows Victorious and Sam & Cat. However, it was certainly her music career that solidified Ariana as a popstar on the same level as the likes of Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.
On Drag Race, Ariana Grande served as a guest judge on season 7. She was clearly very excited to be there, and was a significant contribution to the judging panel. Strangely, season 7 had a lot of popstars on Drag Race, but most of them didn’t really live up to the hype. On the other hand, Ariana Grande definitely pleased her existing fans and probably won over some new ones.
Also, we finally got a lip sync to the modern-day queer anthem, “Break Free” by Ariana Grande during that episode, which was a bonus treat.
Troye Sivan
We haven’t had too many male popstars on RuPaul’s Drag Race. However, in a way, it is kind of preferable that the show has stuck to female popstars who are allies to the LGBTQ+ community and male popstars who identify as gay.
Troye Sivan was a guest judge on season 11 of Drag Race, and his feedback and energy were absolutely great. What’s more, Troye went backstage to talk to the queens, appearing in the Untucked portion of the show. Unfortunately, the queens did not lip-sync to a Troye Sivan song – but we hope it’ll happen sometime in the future!
Christina Aguilera
Getting none other than Christina Aguilera (a.k.a. Xtina) to appear in the premiere episode of season 10 (a.k.a. season X) was definitely a very clever idea. Besides, Christina Aguilera has been considered an important LGBTQ+ ally since her music video for “Beautiful,” which featured same-sex relationships during a time when this was not necessarily trendy for popstars to do.
On Drag Race, Christina Aguilera was more than willing to have fun. She even did a bit in which she pretended to be season 9 contestant Farrah Moan (who many believe looks like the singer). Overall, Xtina did not disappoint the Drag Race fans!
Miley Cyrus
There has been a longstanding conversation of including drag kings (and gender-neutral drag performers) on RuPaul’s Drag Race, so it was very exciting – and promising – to see a popstar as huge as Miley Cyrus dress up as a drag king and walk around the workroom until the queens in the room found out who this person actually was.
Miley Cyrus has been a huge fan of the series for many years, and even attended a few Drag Race season finales. Having her as a guest judge was only a matter of time, and we’re thankful that her turn as guest judge finally came on the season 11 premiere.
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj was the popstar guest judge for the season 12 premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race. With the episode now behind us, we can confidently say that Nicki was one of the best guest judges in the history of Drag Race.
The self-proclaimed Queen of Rap provided thoughtful, specific, and important feedback to each individual queen, taking several notes and remembering all of their names. Because the week’s maxi challenge was writing a rap verse, Nicki Minaj was the perfect person to sit on the judging panel. What’s more, Nicki took the time to go backstage (during Untucked portion) and answer any questions from the contestants, welcoming even the tough ones.
Lady Gaga
While it is hard to rank the popstars who have been guest judges on Drag Race, it’s no secret that Lady Gaga was absolutely the best one.
On the season 9 premiere, Lady Gaga walked into the workroom in high drag – she was pretending to be another contestant. After being clocked as the actual Mother Monster, Gaga sat on the judging panel during an episode when no one would be sent home.
Despite the lower stakes, Gaga took the time to give each and every Drag Race contestant a very valuable (and very specific) piece of constructive advice. In hindsight, there’s no denying that the popstars who were featured on Drag Race after Gaga have tried to match the energy and format established by her as a guest judge.