Amanda Lepore
Encyclopedia
Amanda Lepore is an American
model
, nightclub
hostess, fashion icon, performance artist
, and transgender
icon. She has appeared in advertising for numerous companies, including M.A.C. cosmetics, Mego Jeans, The Blonds, Swatch
, CAMP Cosmetics, and Heatherette
, which has used her likeness on clothing as well as hiring her as a model. Lepore is also noted as a regular subject in photographer David LaChapelle
's work. She participated in his Artists and Prostitutes 1985-2005 exhibit in New York, where she "lived" in a voyeuristic life-sized set.
, Lepore grew up in the Essex County
community of Cedar Grove, New Jersey
. Lepore told a reporter "from day one she knew she was a girl," and in her teens she began making costumes for a go-go dancer in exchange for hormones
. She says her parents soon took her from public school and hired a private tutor, then took her to a psychologist who helped her get a hormone prescription. Lepore says she then got married and moved in with her in-laws, who assisted her with getting sex reassignment surgery
. She says she left the marriage after several years and moved to New York City, where she worked in a nail salon
and as a dominatrix
before meeting Michael Alig
and becoming a fixture on the New York nightlife scene. She soon met David LaChapelle
and began collaborating with him.
's 1999 album Expand Your Head
and on Thighpaulsandra
' 2006 album The Lepore Extrusion
.
Lepore had a cameo in the 1998 documentary Party Monster: The Shockumentary
as well as the 2003 film Party Monster. She was also featured in Another Gay Sequel in 2008. Lepore has also had cameos in music video
s for artists including Elton John
, Thalía
, The Dandy Warhols
, Girl in a Coma
, Grace Jones
, and TIGA
for his cover of "Sunglasses at Night
." Lepore appears in many of Cazwell
music videos, including "Watch my Mouth" and "All Over Your Face".
She was Chief of Parade at the 2010 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
.
Possessing the hourglass measurements of 39-23-37 and standing at 5'2, Amanda Lepore is very petite.
song written by Wigstock
drag queen
Lady Bunny
.
In 2005 Lepore released her first album, Introducing... Amanda Lepore, which contains "Champagne" and "My Hair Looks Fierce". In 2007 she released two remix albums, Fierce Pussy and My Pussy E.P. Lepore also sings the main title for Another Gay Movie
, "I Know What Boys Like". She also performs "Cotton Candy", from the soundtrack of Another Gay Sequel.
Lepore was a part of True Colors Tour 2007, a 15-city North American benefit tour sponsored by the Logo
channel, hosted by comedian Margaret Cho
and headlined by Cyndi Lauper
. The tour benefited the Human Rights Campaign
, PFLAG and the Matthew Shepard
Foundation, and it included Erasure
, Debbie Harry
, The Gossip
, Rufus Wainwright
, The Dresden Dolls
, The MisShapes, Rosie O'Donnell
, Indigo Girls
, The Cliks
and other special guests. In 2009, Lepore performed at the Majestic Theatre during Metro Pride Fest in Detroit with The Divas of the Majestic: A Divine Lites Productions.
Her second album I...Amanda Lepore was released in 2011.
released "Time Tranny", a watch designed by LaChapelle with Lepore on the face displaying a printed crack on the glass and marble stripes as the background. A second version displays no cracked glass and a blue and yellow striped background. In April 2006, Integrity Toys launched an Amanda Lepore doll produced by Jason Wu
as a benefit for AIDS charities. Lepore has a line of cosmetics in partnership with CAMP Cosmetics called "Collection Lepore", as well as a signature perfume.
after being fired and replaced by perceived cisgender
(non-transgender) women. New York Supreme Court
granted Lamar and Lepore a default judgment
.
EPs
Singles
Music videos
2011 -
Turn Me Over
2011 - Get Into It
Cazwell feat Amanda Lepore
were mentioned in the 80th episode of Gossip Girl
as not being a big enough a big enough of a celebrities to impress her boss.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
hostess, fashion icon, performance artist
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
icon. She has appeared in advertising for numerous companies, including M.A.C. cosmetics, Mego Jeans, The Blonds, Swatch
Swatch
Swatch is a brand name for a line of wrist watches from the Swatch Group, a Swiss conglomerate with vertical control of the production of Swiss watches and related products...
, CAMP Cosmetics, and Heatherette
Heatherette
Heatherette is a fashion company and design house run by and former Club Kid Richie Rich, located in New York City. Heatherette came out with a bang in 1999 when they began collaborating on t-shirts and leather goods as a hobby on their living room floor...
, which has used her likeness on clothing as well as hiring her as a model. Lepore is also noted as a regular subject in photographer David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...
's work. She participated in his Artists and Prostitutes 1985-2005 exhibit in New York, where she "lived" in a voyeuristic life-sized set.
Early life
According to Michael MustoMichael Musto
Michael Musto is an American columnist for the The Village Voice, where he writes La Dolce Musto. Musto was born in Brooklyn to an Italian American family. He attended Columbia University graduating in 1976. During his studies, he was a theater critic for the Columbia Spectator...
, Lepore grew up in the Essex County
Essex County, New Jersey
Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 783,969, ranking it third in the state after Bergen County and Middlesex County; Essex County's population has declined from 786,147 as of the bureau's...
community of Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Cedar Grove, New Jersey
-Climate:Cedar Grove has a humid subtropical climate, with warm/hot humid summers and cool/cold winters. The climate is slightly colder overall during the summer than in New York City because there is no urban heat island effect....
. Lepore told a reporter "from day one she knew she was a girl," and in her teens she began making costumes for a go-go dancer in exchange for hormones
Hormone replacement therapy (male-to-female)
Hormone replacement therapy for transgender and transsexual people changes the balance of sex hormones in their bodies. Some intersex people also receive HRT, either starting in childhood to confirm the sex to which they were assigned, or later, if this assignment has proven to be incorrect...
. She says her parents soon took her from public school and hired a private tutor, then took her to a psychologist who helped her get a hormone prescription. Lepore says she then got married and moved in with her in-laws, who assisted her with getting sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery
Sex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
. She says she left the marriage after several years and moved to New York City, where she worked in a nail salon
Nail salon
A nail salon or nail bar is a beauty services establishment that primarily offers nail care services such as manicures, pedicures, and nail enhancements. Often, nail salons also offer skin care services. There are approximately 9,900 nail salons in the U.S., up 23% from 2007 according to the ....
and as a dominatrix
Dominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...
before meeting Michael Alig
Michael Alig
Michael Alig is the co-founding member of the Club Kids, a group of young clubgoers led by long time best friend James St. James and Alig in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
and becoming a fixture on the New York nightlife scene. She soon met David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle
David LaChapelle is a photographer and director who works in the fields of fashion, advertising, and fine art photography, and is noted for his surreal, unique, sexualized, and often humorous style.-Early life:...
and began collaborating with him.
Modeling and acting
Lepore has appeared in fashion magazines, including French Playboy, Ponytail, DAMn and TUSH. She is on the cover of Lords of AcidLords of Acid
Lords of Acid is a Belgian-American post-industrial/techno band, led by musician Praga Khan. They debuted with the controversial new beat single "I Sit on Acid" in 1988...
's 1999 album Expand Your Head
Expand Your Head
Expand Your Head is a compilation album from Belgian electronic band Lords of Acid. Consisting mostly of remixes, three of the album's sixteen tracks were new compositions...
and on Thighpaulsandra
Thighpaulsandra
Thighpaulsandra is a Welsh experimental musician and multi-instrumentalist known mostly for performing on synthesizers and keyboards. As Tim Lewis, he began his career working with Julian Cope. A collaboration with Cope in 1993 followed, as the experimental duo Queen Elizabeth...
' 2006 album The Lepore Extrusion
The Lepore Extrusion
The Lepore Extrusion is a 2006 release by Thighpaulsandra. The album was released via Brainwashed Recordings in a limited CD edition of 500 letterpress sleeves, handmade by Michael Babcock of Interrobang Letterpress....
.
Lepore had a cameo in the 1998 documentary Party Monster: The Shockumentary
Party Monster: The Shockumentary
Party Monster: The Shockumentary is a 1998 documentary film detailing the rise of the club kid phenomenon in New York City, the life of club kid and party promoter Michael Alig and Alig's murder of fellow club kid and drug dealer Angel Melendez. Produced by World of Wonder and based in part on the...
as well as the 2003 film Party Monster. She was also featured in Another Gay Sequel in 2008. Lepore has also had cameos in music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s for artists including Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Thalía
Thalía
Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda , known simply by the mononym Thalía , is a Mexican singer and actress. She has sold over 40 million albums worldwide...
, The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. The band was founded by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström, with keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford later joining. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by...
, Girl in a Coma
Girl in a Coma
Girl In a Coma is a rock band from San Antonio, Texas on Joan Jett's Blackheart Records' label. The band is made up of Mexican-American sisters Nina and Phanie Diaz and long-time friend, Jenn Alva . The name is a reference to The Smiths' song Girlfriend in a Coma...
, Grace Jones
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...
, and TIGA
Tiga (musician)
Tiga is the stage name of Montreal-born DJ/producer Tiga James Sontag . His album Sexor won the 2007 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year.-Career:He graduated from Selwyn House School, a prestigious school in Westmount...
for his cover of "Sunglasses at Night
Sunglasses at Night
"Sunglasses at Night" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Corey Hart. It was the first single to be released off his debut album, 1983's First Offense, and became a hit single in the United States, rising to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1984...
." Lepore appears in many of Cazwell
Cazwell
Luke Caswell , known as Cazwell, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is best known for his explicit lyrics and collaborations with Amanda Lepore...
music videos, including "Watch my Mouth" and "All Over Your Face".
She was Chief of Parade at the 2010 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
The Sydney Mardi Gras is an annual LGBTQI pride parade and festival in Sydney, Australia, and draws in thousands of visitors from around Australia and overseas...
.
Possessing the hourglass measurements of 39-23-37 and standing at 5'2, Amanda Lepore is very petite.
Music
Her first single, "Deeper," is a 2003 trance danceTrance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
song written by Wigstock
Wigstock
Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in the 1980s in New York's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Traditionally the festival would act as the unofficial end to the summer for the gay community of New York City...
drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
Lady Bunny
Lady Bunny
The Lady Bunny is an American drag queen originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, who has lived in New York since the 1980s. She is the founder of the annual Wigstock event and is well-known as a nightclub DJ, promoter and celebrity...
.
In 2005 Lepore released her first album, Introducing... Amanda Lepore, which contains "Champagne" and "My Hair Looks Fierce". In 2007 she released two remix albums, Fierce Pussy and My Pussy E.P. Lepore also sings the main title for Another Gay Movie
Another Gay Movie
Another Gay Movie is a 2006 gay romantic comedy film directed by Todd Stephens. It satirically follows four gay friends, Andy, Jarod, Nico and Griff, who vow upon graduating high school that they will all lose their "anal virginity" before their bull dyke friend Muffler's big Labor Day party...
, "I Know What Boys Like". She also performs "Cotton Candy", from the soundtrack of Another Gay Sequel.
Lepore was a part of True Colors Tour 2007, a 15-city North American benefit tour sponsored by the Logo
Logo (TV channel)
Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
channel, hosted by comedian Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho
Margaret Cho is an American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and recording artist. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially those pertaining to race and sexuality. She has also directed and appeared in music...
and headlined by Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
. The tour benefited the Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization; according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters...
, PFLAG and the Matthew Shepard
Matthew Shepard
Matthew Wayne Shepard was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998...
Foundation, and it included Erasure
Erasure
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
, Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
, The Gossip
The Gossip
Gossip is a three-piece American indie rock band formed in 1999. The band consists of singer Beth Ditto, guitarist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Blilie. After releasing several recordings, the band broke through with their 2006 studio album, Standing in the Way of Control . A follow-up, Music for...
, Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
, The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione...
, The MisShapes, Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
, Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls
The Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
, The Cliks
The Cliks
The Cliks are a Canadian rock band consisting of Lucas Silveira , Tobi Parks and Brian Viglione . The Cliks' major label debut album, Snakehouse was released on April 24, 2007 by Warner Music in Canada and by Tommy Boy Records in the United States.-History:In an In The Life interview, Silveira...
and other special guests. In 2009, Lepore performed at the Majestic Theatre during Metro Pride Fest in Detroit with The Divas of the Majestic: A Divine Lites Productions.
Her second album I...Amanda Lepore was released in 2011.
Merchandise
In October 1999 SwatchSwatch
Swatch is a brand name for a line of wrist watches from the Swatch Group, a Swiss conglomerate with vertical control of the production of Swiss watches and related products...
released "Time Tranny", a watch designed by LaChapelle with Lepore on the face displaying a printed crack on the glass and marble stripes as the background. A second version displays no cracked glass and a blue and yellow striped background. In April 2006, Integrity Toys launched an Amanda Lepore doll produced by Jason Wu
Jason Wu
Jason Wu is a Manhattan-based Taiwanese American fashion designer.-Biography:Born in Taiwan, Wu moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at age nine and attended Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts and Loomis Chaffee, in Windsor ,Connecticut. He learned how to sew by designing and...
as a benefit for AIDS charities. Lepore has a line of cosmetics in partnership with CAMP Cosmetics called "Collection Lepore", as well as a signature perfume.
Legal action
Sophia Lamar and Lepore both filed wrongful-termination suits against the nightclub TwiloTwilo
Twilo was an American nightclub in operation from 1995 to 2001 in New York City and from 2006 to 2007 in Miami. The New York location at 530 West 27th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan regularly attracted a crowd of thousands to its warehouse-like dance floor...
after being fired and replaced by perceived cisgender
Cisgender
Cisgender is an adjective used in the context of gender issues and counselling to refer to a class of gender identities formed by a match between an individual's gender identity and the behavior or role considered appropriate for one's sex.Kristen Schilt and Laurel Westbrook defined "cisgender"...
(non-transgender) women. New York Supreme Court
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in thestate court system of New York, United States. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...
granted Lamar and Lepore a default judgment
Default judgment
Default judgment is a binding judgment in favor of either party based on some failure to take action by the other party. Most often, it is a judgment in favor of a plaintiff when the defendant has not responded to a summons or has failed to appear before a court of law...
.
Discography
Studio albums| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2011 | I...Amanda Lepore
|
EPs
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Introducing... Amanda Lepore
|
| 2007 | My Pussy
Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
| 2008 | Fierce Pussy (The Remix Album)
Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , Digital Download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
| 2010 | Cazwell and Amanda
Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
Singles
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "I Know What Boys Like"
|
Another Gay Movie Soundtrack |
| 2009 | "Cotton Candy"
Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
|
| 2009 | "My Hair Looks Fierce"
Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
|
Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | "Cotton Candy" | Bec Stupak Bec Stupak Bec Stupak is a video and performance artist working in Brooklyn, New York. Her work uses collage, repetition and shifting fields of bright color to create psychedelic animations and films. She got her start early on as a VJ at raves, performing around the world and as a regular performer at Lonnie... |
| 2010 | "Marilyn" | Leo Herrera |
2011 -
Turn Me Over
2011 - Get Into It
Cazwell feat Amanda Lepore
In Pop Culture
She and Ed BurnsEd Burns
Ed Burns is a producer, screenwriter, and novelist. He has worked closely with writing partner David Simon. They have collaborated on The Corner and The Wire . Burns is a former Baltimore police detective for the Homicide and Narcotics divisions, and a public school teacher...
were mentioned in the 80th episode of Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
as not being a big enough a big enough of a celebrities to impress her boss.