Adore Delano
Quick Facts
Biography
Daniel Anthony Noriega, better known by the stage name Adore Delano, (born September 29, 1989) is an American drag queen, singer-songwriter, and television personality. Noriega appeared as a contestant on the seventh season of American Idol in 2008 and later competed as Adore Delano in the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, reaching the final three. Delano has recorded and released three studio albums: Till Death Do Us Party in 2014, After Party in 2016, and Whatever in 2017.
Early life
Noriega was raised in Azusa, California, and attended Sierra High School (Azusa High).
Career
2008: American Idol
In 2008, Noriega appeared on the seventh season of American Idol, making it to the semi-finals. They became known for their flamboyant personality and sassy rapport with the judges, notably a comment towards judge Simon Cowell, which later went viral. After watching them on Idol, Rosie O'Donnell invited Noriega to perform on her R Family Vacations cruise. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres also invited Noriega to be a guest on her show.
Stage | Theme | Song choice | Original artist | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
Audition | Singer's Choice | "Proud Mary" | Creedence Clearwater Revival | Advanced |
Hollywood | Singer's Choice | "When I Need You" | Albert Hammond | Advanced |
Top 24 | The 1960s | "Jailhouse Rock" | Elvis Presley | Safe |
Top 20 | The 1970s | "Superstar" | Delaney & Bonnie | Safe |
Top 16 | The 1980s | "Tainted Love" | Gloria Jones | Eliminated |
2009–14
Following American Idol, Noriega became a YouTube personality, performing skits in drag as Adore Delano, or Angel Baby, another drag character. In June 2009, Noriega released the music video for song "24/7," featuring sister Diamonique.
After seeing RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Raven perform at the nightclub Micky's in West Hollywood, Delano was inspired to enter a drag competition at the club, later winning it. Following the win, Noriega started performing in Southern California as Adore Delano. Along with other RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, Adore walked the Marco Marco runway for Los Angeles Fashion Week in 2013. In December 2013, Logo announced that Adore Delano was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Delano had previously competed for the season 5 fan-vote, ultimately losing to Penny Tration. Delano eventually went on to win three challenges and made it to the final three. Along with Courtney Act, Delano finished as second to season winner Bianca Del Rio.
Immediately following the finale of Drag Race, Delano released the single "DTF" on May 20, 2014, as the lead single from their debut album Till Death Do Us Party. The full album was released on June 3, 2014, charting at number three on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart, 11 on the US Independent Albums chart, and number fifty-nine on the Billboard 200. They released music videos for the majority of its tracks, including "I Adore U", which peaked at 49 on the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs.
In November 2014, Delano announced that a second album was in the works, that is expected to see a 2015 release. In May 2015, Delano announced they had started writing sessions for the album.
2016–present
Delano's album, After Party, was set for release March 11, 2016. The first single, "Dynamite", was released on February 26, 2016; the second, "Take Me There", was released on March 10, 2016; and the third, "I.C.U.", was released on September 1, 2016.
Adore was one of ten contestants on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, but chose to leave the show in the second episode.
Delano's third studio album, Whatever, was released on August 18, 2017.
They appeared as a guest for the first challenge in the premiere of season eleven of Drag Race.
Personal life
Noriega came out as gay at 12 years old. As of 2017, Noriega identifies as non-binary and uses both male and female pronouns. Noriega says that "gender isn't a real thing... it's just something they came up with to categorize and control people".
Lawsuit
On April 4, 2017, Delano filed a lawsuit against former management company, Producer Entertainment Group, alleging Delano had earned $2.5 million over the past three years, though only about $300,000 was actually paid. P.E.G. countersued in January 2018, alleging Delano owed the company $180,000 in management fees.
Discography
- Till Death Do Us Party (2014)
- After Party (2016)
- Whatever (2017)
Tours
Headlining
- Till Death Do Us Party Tour (2014-2015)
- After Party UK Promo Tour (2016)
- After Party Tour (2016-2017)
- Birthday Tour UK and Ireland (2017)
- Whatever UK Tour (2018)
- Time Hop Party Tour UK and Ireland (2018)
- A Pizza Me Tour UK, Ireland and The Netherlands (2019)
Co-headlining act
- Battle of the Seasons 2015 Condragulations Tour (2015)
- Battle of the Seasons 2016 Extravaganza Tour (2016)
- ABCD UK and Ireland Tour (2018)
- Hull Pride (2018)
- Heels of Hell UK and Ireland Tour (2019)
- Drag world UK (2019)
Awards and nominations
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Adore Delano | Drag Queen of the Year | Won |
Filmography
Film
Title | Year | Director | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dragged | 2015 | Christopher Birk | Self | In production | |
TupiniQueens | 2015 | João Monteiro | Documentary about drag queen's scene in Brazil. |
Television
Title | Year | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
American Idol | 2008 | Self | ||
The Ellen DeGeneres Show | ||||
RuPaul's Drag Race | 2014 | Season 6 – Runner-up | ||
RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked | Companion show to RuPaul's Drag Race | |||
Chasing Life | 2015 | |||
RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars | 2016 | Season 2 – 9th Place (Quit) | ||
Courtney Act's Christmas Extravaganza | 2018 | Channel 4 Christmas Special | ||
The View | 2019 | Interviewed with Nina West and Monét X Change |
Web series
Title | Year | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Let the Music Play | 2014 | Self | ||
Hey Qween | 2015 | Episode: "Adore Delano" | ||
Portrait of a Queen | 2018 | Episode: "Love & Adore" | ||
The View: Facebook Live | 2019 | Episode: "Pride Month 2019" |
Music videos
Title | Year | Artist | Director | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
"Oh No She Better Don't" | 2014 | RuPaul | Steven Corfe | |
"Sissy That Walk" | Steven Corfe | |||
"Mean Gays" | Courtney Act | Kain O'Keeffe | ||
"The T" | 2016 | Alaska | Ben Simkins | |
"You Need To Calm Down" | 2019 | Taylor Swift | Drew Kirsch |