Venus D-Lite

Last updated
Venus D-Lite
Venus D Lite.jpg
D-Lite in 2017
Born
Adam Daniel Guerra

(1983-09-05) September 5, 1983 (age 40) [1]
Rosemead, California, U.S.
Education Orange Coast College
Los Angeles Community College
Occupations
Years active2002–present

Adam Daniel Guerra (born September 5, 1983), [2] [3] known by his stage name Venus D-Lite, is an American drag performer, television personality and Madonna impersonator. He gained recognition for competing on the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race , and went viral with his appearance in a My Strange Addiction episode called "Addicted To Being Madonna" (2015). [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Guerra was raised in Rosemead, California. [5] He attended San Gabriel High School and then Orange Coast College, where he majored in business. [6] He was also pursuing a degree in film from Los Angeles Community College, but dropped out in order to pursue a career in drag full-time. [7]

Career

Guerra started performing as D-Lite (in a Marilyn Monroe impersonation) on August 5, 2002 [8] and made his first television appearance on The Ricki Lake Show in 2003. [9] His drag name came from a combination of “Venus” (taken from “Venus Was Her Name”, a song by Shocking Blue), and “D-Lite”, a name thought of by Guerra's then-boyfriend and makeup artist of three years. [10] A fan of Madonna, he spent over $175,000 on 19 surgeries to look like her for his performances. [11] He was announced as a contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race season 3 on January 24, 2011. [12] He was eliminated in the first episode, after losing a lip sync to "The Right Stuff" by Vanessa Williams against Shangela, and placed thirteenth. [13] He did however make a guest appearance on the first episode of the fourth season.

In 2014, he made an appearance on Botched to get rhinoplasty surgery. [14] He was in an episode of My Strange Addiction in 2015 to discuss his Madonna obsession. [15] [16] He was also with fellow Drag Race alumni in an episode of Skin Wars . [17]

On February 5, 2015, Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio featured Venus in an episode of her WOWPresents web series "Really Queen?" where she made jokes about her. [18] Venus appeared in a reaction video on February 25 by WOW making jokes back at Del Rio. [19]

Aside from Madonna, he has previously impersonated Marilyn Monroe, Paris Hilton, Cher, Gwen Stefani, Judy Garland, and Barbra Streisand. [7]

Music

Guerra released his first single "I'm Not Madonna" featuring singer Jenn Cuneta on July 7, 2014, on a remix EP. [20] He collaborated with fellow Botched guests Toby Sheldon and Kitty Jay for the single "The Plastics", credited as a band of the same name. [21]

Personal life

Guerra is gay. [22] In 2021, he came out as HIV-positive in an interview with Joseph Shepherd. [23]

In June 2022, Venus made an Instagram post admitting that he was raped by a fellow Drag Race alum in 2013, one described as a “popular queen”, but refused to name the rapist. [24]

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2003 The Ricki Lake Show Himself
2011, 2012 RuPaul's Drag Race HimselfSeason 3 – 13th, Season 4 – Guest
2011 RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked Himself
2014 Botched HimselfSeason 1 – Episode 5: "Like a Surgeon"
2015 My Strange Addiction HimselfSeason 6 – Episode 6: "Grandma Lover / Addicted to Being Madonna"
2015 Skin Wars [25] HimselfSeason 2 – Episode 4: "Queens or Divas?"

Web series

YearTitleRole
2018Hey Qween [26] Herself

Discography

Singles

YearTitle
2014"I'm Not Madonna"
2014"The Plastics"

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References

  1. ↑ "Adam Guerra". Ancestry Institute. Ancestry. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  2. ↑ Beale, Margherita (27 April 2017). "'Drag Race' ex-contestant hung up on playing Madonna now has a business plan". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  3. ↑ Wichelmann, Kai (April 3, 2015). "Männlicher Madonna-Fan wird zum Geht-so-Double". Rolling Stone Germany (in German). Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  4. ↑ Guerra, Joey (April 20, 2016). "Madonna a profession for Venus D'Lite". Houston Chronicle . Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  5. ↑ Ohanesian, Liz (2011-02-01). "Venus D-Lite on RuPaul's Drag Race, Madonna Impersonations and L.A. Nightclubs". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  6. ↑ Beale, Margherita (April 27, 2017). "'Drag Race' ex-contestant hung up on playing Madonna now has a business plan". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Fitzgerald, Christine (18 April 2019). "Venus D'Lite – The Socialite Life Interview". Socialite Life. MJP Content Labs, LLC. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  8. ↑ "On Point With: Venus D'Lite". Thotyssey. Tumblr. August 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Venus D'Lite - WEHOville". WEHOville. 2013-10-28. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  10. ↑ Holland, Scott (27 January 2011). "Venus D Lite Interview". Hotspot Magazine. Hotspots Media Group. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  11. ↑ MacRae, Dan (2015-03-25). "Adam Guerra (a.k.a. Venus D'Lite) Has Spent $175,000 On Surgeries To Look Like Madonna". ET Canada. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  12. ↑ "Alexis Mateo: RuPaul's Drag Race Season 3 Contestant - RuPaul's Drag Race | LOGOtv". Logo TV. Archived from the original on 2021-01-27. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  13. ↑ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' season premiere: Can you believe RuPaul brought [spoiler] back?!?". EW.com. Retrieved 2018-08-19.
  14. ↑ "Botched Before and After: Reality Star Gets a Boob Job, Madonna Impersonator Wants a Nose Job and Much More—See the Pics! on Botched". E! Online. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  15. ↑ "Madonna a profession for Venus D'Lite". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  16. ↑ ""Drag Race" Alum Venus D'Lite Hangs Up Madonna Obsession On "My Strange Addiction"". NewNowNext. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  17. ↑ "Skin Wars season 2 episode 4 recap: Drag Queens are here!". Channel Guide Magazine. 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  18. ↑ WOWPresents (2015-02-05), Bianca Del Rio's Really Queen? - Venus D'Lite , retrieved 2018-10-13
  19. ↑ WOWPresents (2015-02-25), Venus D'Lite Reacts to Bianca Del Rio's Really Queen? feat. JujuBee , retrieved 2018-10-13
  20. ↑ I'm Not Madonna by Venus D Lite featIng Jenn Cuneta on Apple Music, 2014-07-07, retrieved 2018-02-20
  21. ↑ "Plastic surgery enhanced celebrity look-alike group release music video". starcasm.net. 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  22. ↑ "This gay man was so obsessed he spent $175k to look like Madonna". Gay Star News. 2015-01-30. Archived from the original on 2019-06-09. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  23. ↑ Venus D-Lite: Exposed (The Full Interview) , retrieved 2021-08-14
  24. ↑ Cornell, Ashley (3 August 2022). "RuPaul's Venus D'Lite Says She Was Raped By Another Reality Queen". Spam Chronicles. S Chronicles. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  25. ↑ Boulet, Ruth (2015-07-08). "Skin Wars season 2 episode 4 recap: The Drag Queens are here!". Channel Guide Magazine. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  26. ↑ Hey Qween (2018-05-14), VENUS D'LITE on Hey Qween! with Jonny McGovern | Hey Qween , retrieved 2019-05-08
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