A young Ella Fitzgerald made her Montreal debut there in 1943. Rockhead’s hosted such jazz greats as Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Fats Waller, Dizzy Gillespie and Montreal’s Oscar Peterson. Photo by Dorval Library Bridging the generationsĪs far back as the 1940s, African-American drag queens Dick Montgomery, Malva Bolda and Billie McAllister regularly performed at Rockhead’s Paradise, the famed show bar founded by Rufus Rockhead in 1928. Barbada de Barbades, has presented Drag Story Hours at Montreal-area libraries. That type of tenacity is what led this (LGBTQ2+ civil rights) movement from the very beginning. That summer, speaking about the drag queens who fought back at the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, RuPaul told Montreal’s Hour newspaper: “Stonewall is a subject very dear to me because it was those queens who had the guts to throw that first brick! It’s my goal to never let those brave drag queens be forgotten. Vittar is the biggest drag star to headline a Montreal Pride event since RuPaul played Divers/Cité in 2005. … That’s why I always loved Montreal and the province of Quebec: we were always treated nicely here.” Photo by Peter McCabe / Montreal Gazette Drag world makeover When Lane started on the touring circuit, “drag wasn’t as accepted. Vicky Lane performed as a drag queen for almost 50 years. 7.Īs drag goes global, its subversive roots further erased by the mainstream, many local artists are finding it more and more difficult to stay in the game. Meanwhile, Grammy-nominated Brazilian drag queen Pabllo Vittar - who has more followers across all social media than her idol RuPaul - headlines the closing concert at Montreal Pride on Aug.
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Since the hit TV series RuPaul’s Drag Race premièred in 2009, contestants from all seasons of the show and its many spinoffs - including Canada’s Drag Race - have become superstars on the global circuit, earning the kind of money and fame local drag queens only dream of.ĭrag Race alumni now play major concerts, tours and festivals, like Trixie Mattel at Montreal’s Just for Laughs and Jinkx Monsoon at the Calgary Stampede this summer. Six decades later, another revolution is profoundly reshaping Montreal nightlife and the city’s renowned drag scene. Photo by Armand Monroe / Archives gaies du Québec “Then when I began managing the bar, I introduced a new policy: gay customers served by gay waiters and gay bartenders.”Īrmand Monroe in 1960. “Being gay was illegal in those days,” Monroe says. 27, 1959, to mark Armand’s 24th birthday.
Gay men were first allowed to dance together in Montreal on the night of Aug. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.