Jinkx Monsoon

Born in Portland, Oregon and trained — and long active — in Seattle, Jinkx Monsoon has, since the early 2010s, built a career at the crossroads of drag, cabaret, musical theatre and song. Initially active on Seattle stages, where she performed in productions such as Rent, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Hairspray, Jinkx Monsoon broadened her audience in 2013 by winning season 5 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, before returning to the All Stars 7 edition in 2022. Her musical work blends jazz, blues, pop, cabaret and alternative rock with a strong taste for narrative and theatrical forms: The Inevitable Album (2014) adopts a retro aesthetic between cabaret song and swing, while The Ginger Snapped (2018) takes a more abrasive direction, drawing on grunge, garage rock and ska. She also develops recurring stage projects with BenDeLaCreme around holiday-themed shows, and has collaborated in the studio with Fred Schneider and Amanda Palmer. Alongside her tours and cabaret performances, Jinkx Monsoon pursues a career as an actress and singer across Broadway, off-Broadway, television and voice work, with credits including Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors and Doctor Who.