Exclusive: RuPaul to Make First-Ever Rock Festival Appearance at Life Is Beautiful
Everyone say love! Pop-culture icon, LGBTQ activist, and Emmy-nominated RuPaul’s Drag Race host RuPaul Charles will be making his first-ever appearance at a mainstream rock festival — Las Vegas’s fourth annual Life Is Beautiful — Yahoo Music’s Reality Rocks can exclusively reveal.
While Ru won’t be performing any actual music at Life Is Beautiful (sorry, but you won’t get to hear “Peanut Butter” or “Sissy That Walk” this time around), he will be headlining the festival’s new IDEAS Series, which features discussions and Q&A sessions with “globally recognized leaders who impact the world through transformation, innovation, and passion.” RuPaul will appear on the fest’s Troubadour Stage on Life Is Beautiful’s day two, Saturday, Sept. 24, at 4 p.m.
Related: RuPaul Talks Punk, Politics, and Pulse: ‘Most People Are Still Living in the Dark Ages’
Life Is Beautiful’s 2016 IDEAS Series will highlight three different themes from Sept. 23-25: “Self Transformation,” showcasing speakers’ journey of personal growth; “Local Transformation,” focusing on how to make an impact in one’s local community; and “Global Transformation,” discussing ways to transform society through large-scale movements and community service. Other IDEAS speakers will include street artist Shepard Fairey and fashion expert Stacy London.
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Last month, in a candid and revealing sit-down interview with Reality Rocks on the set of the forthcoming ninth season of Drag Race, RuPaul discussed cultural and societal shifts, telling Yahoo Music: “I think our culture is moving forward — slowly. And also, as we move forward, we’re witnessing some of the old stalwarts rejecting that forward motion. So it’s the best of times, and it’s also the worst of times… I think that this forward movement that we’re experiencing now — which is in its infancy, I think — will continue. It will continue unless fear-based ideas take over, which could easily happen. You know, we have fear, and we have love. Throughout my life, I have always believed in love; I’ve always put my heart in love.” Expect similar nuggets of wisdom when he speaks at Life Is Beautiful later this month.
According to the festival’s very positively worded official statement, Life Is Beautiful is “an annual celebration where people from all walks of life (generations, orientation, race, religion, and nationality) come together and create an experience centered in music, art, taste, and ideas. That gathering of people, by very nature, becomes a platform in which positivity prevails, culture and creativity thrive and transformation occurs.” Musical acts at the festival this year will include Mumford & Sons, Empire of the Sun, Jane’s Addiction, the Shins, Flume, Leon Bridges, Chromeo, Jimmy Eat World, J. Cole, Jack Garratt, and Bloc Party. For tickets and info, click here.
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