Trixie Mattel

Trixie Mattel is the drag persona of Brian Michael Firkus (born August 23, 1989), an American drag queen, singer-songwriter, comedian, author, actor, entrepreneur, and television personality from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mattel is best known for being the winner of the third season of "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars" and for placing sixth on the seventh season of "RuPaul's Drag Race". In June 2019, a panel of judges from "New York" magazine placed her fourth on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former "Drag Race" contestants. 
Mattel co-hosts the web series "UNHhhh" and previously co-hosted its Viceland spin-off, "The Trixie & Katya Show", alongside Katya Zamolodchikova. Mattel's first studio album, "Two Birds", was released in 2017, followed by her second album, "One Stone", in 2018. Her third album, "Barbara", was released in 2020. In 2020, she and Zamolodchikova wrote the "New York Times" best-selling book "Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood". Mattel is also the CEO and founder of Trixie Cosmetics. Mattel operates a YouTube channel where she showcases the brand's products, reviews products from other brands, posts new music, and posts episodes of her podcast.
Early life.
Firkus was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is half Ojibwe and comes from a Native American family living in Crivitz, Wisconsin. He had an abusive stepfather who would call him a "trixie" when he acted feminine, which would later inspire his drag name. He almost went by the name Cupcake before deciding on Trixie Mattel. After graduating from high school, Firkus attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he received a BFA in Music Theatre and was introduced to drag while performing in a production of "The Rocky Horror Show" at the Oriental Theatre.
Career.
2008-2014: Career beginnings.
Firkus first performed in drag at LaCage NiteClub in Milwaukee. Firkus became a staple of the Milwaukee drag scene while also performing in Chicago alongside other acts introduced on "RuPaul's Drag Race", such as Kim Chi. In 2014, Firkus attended The Institute of Beauty and Wellness before withdrawing later that same year to participate in "RuPaul's Drag Race".
2015-2017: "RuPaul's Drag Race", "UNHhhh", "Two Birds", and "The Trixie & Katya Show".
Mattel first achieved notoriety as a competitor in Season 7 of "RuPaul's Drag Race", She was first eliminated in episode four and later reentered the competition in episode eight by winning the "Conjoined Twins" challenge with Pearl Liaison. Mattel was once again eliminated in episode 10, placing sixth overall and becoming the first queen to last more than one episode after returning to the competition. After her run on the show, Mattel performed her stand-up comedy tour "Ages 3 and Up" from 2015 to 2017.
In October 2015, Mattel guest-starred in a special edition of WOWPresents' Fashion Photo Review with fellow season seven contestant Katya Zamolodchikova. The positive reception for that episode resulted on World of Wonder launching "UNHhhh", a comedy web series featuring the duo. The series became one of the most successful shows on the "WOW Presents" YouTube channel and earned them their first Streamy Award nomination for Show of the Year at the 7th Streamy Awards. In November 2016 Mattel had a guest appearance as herself on "". 
In addition to her comedic drag persona, Mattel is also a country folk singer-songwriter. Speaking to "Rolling Stone", Mattel listed her primary influences as June Carter Cash and Dolly Parton and states that she grew up on the music of George Jones, Conway Twitty and Johnny Cash. She is also a fan of Jason Isbell, Kris Kristofferson, Aimee Mann, Michelle Branch and Kacey Musgraves. Mattel self-released her debut studio album "Two Birds" on May 2, 2017. The album debuted at number two on the Heatseekers Albums chart, number six on the Independent Albums chart, and number 16 on the Americana/Folk Albums chart. 
In November 2017, Trixie and Katya starred in a drag stage adaptation of the 1997 cult film "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion", entitled "Trixie and Katya's High School Reunion". Also in November 2017, Trixie produced a video for GQ Magazine "Trixie Mattel Makes a PB&J (and More Importantly, a Cocktail)", earning a nomination from the James Beard Foundation Awards in the humor category.
In October 2017, it was announced that "UNHhhh" would come to an end after its second season. Shortly after, a television spin-off of "UNHhhh" for Viceland called "The Trixie and Katya Show" premiered. The show ran until March 2018. Midway through the season, Katya suffered a mental health crisis triggered by a relapse into addiction, which caused her to be replaced by Bob the Drag Queen for the remainder of the season. The duo later reunited in October 2018 for a new third season of "UNHhhh".
2018-2019: "All Stars", "One Stone", and "Moving Parts".
Mattel later returned to the "Drag Race" franchise for the third season of "", which started airing on January 25, 2018. On March 15, 2018, her fellow competitors voted for her to advance to the final two, where she ultimately won against runner-up Kennedy Davenport in the final lipsync battle. In December 2018 she competed on the television special "RuPaul's Drag Race Holi-slay Spectacular" and won in a tie with the other competitors.
On February 3, 2018, Mattel released an acoustic version of her song "Moving Parts" as a tease for her upcoming album. It became her first charting single, peaking at number 83 on the Scottish Single Chart. She dropped her second studio album, "One Stone", on March 15, 2018, the same night as the "All Stars" finale. The album peaked at number 16 on the Folk Albums chart, number ten on the Independent albums chart, and number one on the Heatseekers chart, becoming Mattel's first album to reach the top spot on a Billboard chart.
In April 2018, she launched her new comedy world tour "Now with Moving Parts", followed by the "Super Bowl Cut" tour later that same year. A documentary film titled "" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2019, and screened until May 2019. It documents Mattel as she embarks on her "Moving Parts" tour following her "All Stars" win, as well as her personal struggles. The documentary was made available on Video On Demand platforms on December 3, 2019. An accompanying acoustic soundtrack was released later in December. Mattel's first comedy special, "Trixie Mattel: Skinny Legend", aired on OutTV in Canada on September 26, 2018.
2019-present: "Barbara", and "Trixie & Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood".
In a September 2018 interview with "Billboard", she announced that she was working on her third studio album, "Barbara," featuring an "electro-folk" sound"." "Yellow Cloud" was released as the first single from the album on May 17, 2019, though it did not make the final cut. "Malibu" was released as the official first single on January 24, 2020 and the album was released a week later through Producer Entertainment Group and ATO Records. The album later received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Best Breakthrough artist. 
In January 2019, Trixie and Katya launched the fourth season of "UNHhhh" which earned them their fourth Streamy nomination, this time for Unscripted series. In June 2019, Mattel was one of 37 queens to be featured on the cover of "New York" magazine.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, filming of the fifth season of "UNHhhh" was put on hold. In its place, Trixie and Katya launched "Trixie and Katya Save the World", a spin-off filmed from their homes. Trixie also took the time to start building her YouTube channel, which previously featured make-up tutorials and music videos, and expanded to include content reflecting her pastime as a toy collector, with videos reviewing new Barbie collections, talking about doll history, or baking with Easy Bake Ovens.
On July 14, 2020 Trixie and Katya released "Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood", a parody of women's self help books. The book was a "New York Times" best-seller. Trixie and Katya resumed filming of "UNHhhh" later in 2020 and launched the podcast "The Bald and the Beautiful". 
In December 2020, it was announced that Trixie and Katya would co-host the 10th Streamy Awards in Los Angeles. In the same ceremony the duo was nominated for Show of the Year and Unscripted Series for "UNHhhh", winning the latter category.
In September 2020, Mattel released a cover of Lana Del Rey's "Video Games", which charted at number 66 on the Scottish singles chart, and number 89 on the UK Downloads chart. 
In February 2021, Mattel released a cover of the Violent Femmes track "Blister in The Sun", as the lead single from her EP, ""Full Coverage, Vol. 1"," her newest material since "Barbara." 
Personal life.
Firkus is openly gay. Since 2016, he has been in a relationship with filmmaker David Silver, producer of his documentary "Moving Parts". He is a vegetarian. 
Trixie Mattel's persona is based on her love of Barbie Dolls, owning a wide collection of Barbies in her Los Angeles home.
Other ventures.
Trixie Cosmetics.
On May 1, 2019, Mattel announced that she will be releasing her make-up brand "Trixie Cosmetics" later that month, with the products launching at RuPaul's DragCon LA on May 24, 2019. Mattel had previously dipped into the makeup industry with her Oh Honey! collaboration with independent makeup brand Sugarpill Cosmetics in 2018.
In 2020, Trixie Cosmetics launched a collaboration collection with Katya called "Red Scare".
This Is It!
In February 2021, it was announced that Mattel had become co-owner of Wisconsin's oldest LGBTQ+ bar, This Is It!, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.