Alaska Thunderfuck 5000

Alaska Thunderfuck 5000
Alaska Thunderfuck in 2014
Born	Justin Andrew Honard (1985-03-06) March 6, 1985 Erie, Pennsylvania
Residence	Los Angeles, California, US
Other names	Alaska, Alaska Thunderfuck, Alaska 5000
Alma mater	University of Pittsburgh
Occupation	Drag queen
Family	Cory Binney
Website	alaskathunderfuck.com

Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, (also known mononymously as Alaska, or as Alaska Thunderfuck, Alaska Thunderfvck, or Alaska 5000)^[1] is the stage name of Justin Honard, an American drag performer, recording artist, and drag idol. Alaska is best known for appearing on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, where he was a finalist with Roxxxy Andrews. He was crowned the winner of the second season of RuPaul's All Stars Drag Race. Alaska is known for her iconic voice, platinum blond hair and snatched waist. She is rated to be one of the most loved drag queens, and she has over 700,000 followers on Instagram.^[2]

Early life

Justin Andrew Honard was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Fort LeBoeuf High School in 2003.^[3][4] He studied theater at the University of Pittsburgh.^[5] Honard has a half-brother named Cory Binney, with whom he stars in a World of Wonder web series, Bro'Laska. He also has an older sister Brooke, and a younger brother Ryan.^[6]

Career

Honard originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Dissatisfied with the auditioning process, he turned to drag and got a job at the West Hollywood club, Fubar.^[7] He frequently performed in the Trannyshack shows in Los Angeles.^[8] In 2009, he performed in Palm Springs Gay Pride with Tammie Brown and Jer Ber Jones.^[9]

Honard met future boyfriend Sharon Needles through Myspace in December 2009 and eventually moved back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to live with him in 2010.^[3] Along with Sharon Needles and Cherri Baum, he formed the band Haus of Haunt, which later evolved into a drag troupe based out of the bar the Blue Moon.^[10] As part of the Haus of Haunt, he helped present the Pittsburgh debut of fellow drag queen and recording artist Christeene Vale in 2013.^[11] Alaska later impersonated Christeene for the music video "RuPaulogize" by Willam Belli.^[12]

Alaska Thunderfuck in 2013

It was announced in November 2012 that Alaska Thunderfuck was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, but would be known by the mononym Alaska.^[3][13] He had previously auditioned every season for the show.^[7] Alaska won the fragrance commercial-themed main challenge in the episode "Scent of a Drag Queen" and the main challenge for "Sugar Ball."^[14][15] As part of the show, Alaska sang on the "We Are the World"-inspired song "Can I Get an Amen?". The song's proceeds helped benefit the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.^[16] In May 2013, during the season finale, Jinkx Monsoon was declared the winner and Alaska was declared the runner-up of the season, along with fellow competitor Roxxxy Andrews.

In October 2013, Alaska performed as Dr. Frank N. Furter in the Woodlawn Theatre's production of The Rocky Horror Show. RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage and season four contestant Willam Belli also starred in the musical.^[17]

Since appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race, Honard has toured and performed consistently, appearing in RuPaul's Drag Race Battle of the Seasons shows, the Drag Stars at Sea cruises, custom one-woman shows such as a Stevie Nicks tribute called "Stevie Forever", a cabaret show called "Red for Filth", and a holiday show called "Blue Christmas".^[18][19][20] During the summer of 2014, he starred in a stage production of "Sex and the City".^[21] With brother Cory Binney, Honard has a web series sponsored by World of Wonder, called Bro’Laska.^[22] Alaska recently became a spokesmodel for American Apparel alongside Willam Belli and Courtney Act.^[23]

Honard has since pursued a music career, and released a string of singles, namely "Ru Girl", "Your Makeup Is Terrible", and "Nails". In June 2015, Alaska's debut album, Anus, was released to positive reviews. Singles from the album included "Hieeee" and "This is My Hair".^{[24][25][26][27][28]}

In 2016, Alaska returned to Drag Race for the second season of Rupaul's Drag Race All Stars.^[29] She received some backlash due to some of her choices of eliminations, and her behavior towards the end of the competition. In response to the backlash, Alaska donated $5,000 to the charity Trans Kids Purple Rainbow and posted an apology video online. In the season finale, she was crowned the second winner of All Stars.^[30][31][32] After being crowned the winner of second season she gets called "The Queen of Snakes" by some, due to some of the choices she made on the show.

October 14, 2016 Alaska released her newest album called Poundcake.^[33] The album includes singles such as "The T", "Come to Brazil", "Puppet" and many other. The album, Poundcake, is named after the puppet challenge on RuPaul's Drag Race where Alaska and fellow contestant Lineysha Sparx created a rebellious puppet called Lil' Poundcake. Alaska features other drag queens on her album such as Adore Delano, Jackie Beat, Miss Fame and Gia Gunn.^[34]

In October, 2016 Alaska was a part of a fashion show held by the popular brand amongst drag queens, Marco Marco, which is known for it's runways filled with people from the LGBT community. Alaska walked the runway wearing a dress from Marco Marco, while she performed her new hit "Puppet" live with backup dancers.^[35] She mentioned that being a part of the fashion show is a dream come true for any drag queen.^[36]

Artistry

Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 is Jer Ber Jones' drag daughter.^[37] Jones is noted for pioneering "tranimal" drag, which originated in Los Angeles and emphasized nontraditional drag influences such as Leigh Bowery and the Cockettes.^[38] Honard's drag name is derived from Alaskan Thunderfuck, a strain of marijuana. Alaska counts Divine, Britney Spears, and Marilyn Monroe as her main influences. Her drag character's back story revolves around being an alien from the planet Glamtron who crash-landed on Earth.^[1][39]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Music videos

As lead artist

As featured artist

Theatre

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Alaska Thunderfuck 5000

• Official website
• Justin Andrew Honard at the Internet Movie Database