Joseph Michael "Joey" Santolini[1][2] (born December 1, 1987), better known by his stage name Tatianna, is an American drag queen, musician, and reality television personality from Washington, D.C. He is best known for competing on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race and later the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. She released her debut album, T1, in 2018.
Tatianna | |
|---|---|
 Tatianna performing at Capital Pride in 2018 | |
| Born | Joseph Michael Santolini December 1, 1987 Arlington, Virginia, USA |
| Other names | Joey Santolini |
| Occupation(s) | Drag queen, comedian, musician, reality television personality |
| Years active | 2007-present |
| Known for | |
Early life
editSantolini was born on December 1, 1987[3] in Arlington, Virginia.[4] He is of Italian and African American descent. He originally attended Yorktown High School, but moved to Falls Church High School after his freshman year due to bullying.[5] He received a license in cosmetology after his senior year in high school, from where he graduated in 2006.[6][5] He started dressing as a girl when he was fourteen, occasionally attended school in drag, and started drag professionally in 2007; his first show was performed at Apex, a gay bar in Washington D.C.[5] He originally applied for season one of Drag Race, but was rejected at the time.[5] At the time of the cast reveal of Drag Race, he was residing in Falls Church with his grandparents, working at a hair salon in Arlington, and corresponding with his mother and stepfather, who were then living in Florida.[5]
Career
editTatianna was announced as one of twelve contestants for the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race in November 2009.[7] During the show, she won the first edition of the annual "Snatch Game" challenge, playing Britney Spears in episode four.[8] She overall placed fourth in the competition after losing a lip sync of Aretha Franklin's "Something He Can Feel" to competitor Jujubee.[9] Six years later, she was selected as one of ten contestants for the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, which was announced on June 17, 2016.[10] She placed in the top two in the first episode, but lost a lip sync to Roxxxy Andrews.[11] She was controversially eliminated by Alaska the following episode after placing in the bottom for his second snatch game as Ariana Grande.[12] She returned in episode five and won $5,000 with Alyssa Edwards after a double-save lip sync to Rihanna's "Shut Up and Drive".[13] She was controversially eliminated by Alaska again for placing in the bottom that following episode.[14] She finished in sixth place overall.
Outside of Drag Race, she hosted her own web show on WOWpresents called Tea With Tati which premiered in April 2018.[15][16] She announced on June 18, 2018, the release of a new fragrance called Choices produced by Xyrena.[17]
Tatianna performed live with Charli XCX on October 13, 2018, singing a duet of Charli's song "1999".[18]
She portrayed Ariana Grande in the music video for Taylor Swift's "You Need to Calm Down" on June 17, 2019.
On August 26, 2019, Tatianna performed alongside Taylor Swift during her 2019 MTV Video Music Awards performance.[19]
As a part of Pride Month 2023, she announced a partnership with the Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Eastern Shore branch of McDonald's.[20]
Personal life
editIn October 2019, Tatianna was detained outside of an Atlanta nightclub when she entered an employee's only door and reportedly verbally assaulted an employee.[21] No charges were pressed.[22]
Music
editTatianna released her first single, "True" on November 8, 2010.[23] A second single, "Touch" was released on May 6, 2011.[24] Her third single, "Losing Control" was released on August 14, 2012.[25] After a four-year hiatus, Tatianna released "The Same Parts" on September 1, 2016.[26] He performed the single on the premiere episode of All Stars 2 as a spoken word version.[27] His fifth single, "Transform" was released on October 26, 2016.[28] She released "Use Me" on November 28, 2017.[29] Unlike his other singles, an official music video was released the same day as the single.[30] He released her eleven-track debut album, "T1" on May 28, 2018.[31] Rapper Cazwell and drag queen Salvadora Dali are featured guests on the album. A video for the fifth track, "CYA", was released on August 30, 2018.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Workhouse Queen | Herself | Documentary | [32] |
| 2020 | Miss Americana | Herself | Documentary | [33] |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Herself | Contestant (4th place) |
| RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked | |||
| 2016 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars | Contestant (6th place) | |
| Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen | Guest | ||
| 2021 | Guest[34] |
Music videos
edit| Year | Title | Artist | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | "The T" | Alaska Thunderfuck | [35] |
| 2017 | "Use Me" | Herself | [36] |
| 2018 | "CYA" | [37] | |
| 2019 | "You Need to Calm Down" | Taylor Swift | [38] |
| "Hurt My Feelings" | Herself |
Web series
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Fashion Photo RuView | Herself | [39] | |
| 2014 | Ring My Bell | Guest | [40] | |
| 2016 | The Final Lap | Season 2, Episode 2 | [41] | |
| 2018 | Tea with Tati | Host | [42] | |
| Hey Qween! | Guest | [43] |
Discography
editAlbums
edit| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| T1[31] |
|
Singles
edit| Single | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "True" | 2010 | Non-album singles |
| "Touch" | 2011 | |
| "Losing Control" | 2012 | |
| "The Same Parts" | 2016 | |
| "Transform" | ||
| "Use Me" | 2017 | T1 |
| "Try" (featuring Salvadora Dali) |
2018 | |
| "CYA" | ||
| "I Know" (with ZEETS) |
Non-album single | |
| "Hurt My Feelings" | 2019 | |
| "Place I Want to Go" (with ZEETS) | ||
| "Teenage Romance" | 2021 |
References
edit- ^ "The 10 Hottest "RuPaul's Drag Race" Contestants Out of Drag". LOGO News. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Joseph Michael Santolini". Ancestry Institute. Ancestry. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
- ^ @TATIANNANOW (22 February 2021). "Four celebrities born the same year as you" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Sitting with Spencer: An Interview with Tatianna -". werrrk.com. 2015-08-12. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
- ^ a b c d e "Falls Church's Tatianna Rocks RuPaul's World - Falls Church News-Press Online". Falls Church News-Press Online. 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "10 Things You Didn't Know About Tatianna". Drag Official. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "'RuPaul's Drag Race' Exclusive: Meet the season 2 cast and watch them werq!". EW.com. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Tatianna from RuPaul's Drag Race". Phoenix New Times. Archived from the original on 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "The 10 Best Lip-Sync Battles From RuPaul's Drag Race". Vulture. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Logo Announces Contestants For "RuPaul's All Star Drag Race" Season 2". LOGO News. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Who went home on the first episode of 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'?". Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Who won Snatch Game on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'?". Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "The 15 Best Lip Syncs in 'RuPaul's Drag Race' Herstory". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "'All Stars 2' Tatianna serves tea on Alaska's borrowed crop top & double elimination". Screener. 2016-10-01. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Frenemies: Tea With Tati 101". WOW Presents Plus. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "New Show, Tea with Tati, Out on WOW Presents Plus and It's Spilling It All!". The WOW Report. 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ "Tatianna on Instagram: "So I'm excited to announce I have a fragrance coming out with @xyrena called Choices! Be one of the first people in the world to get my…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
- ^ "Charli XCX to play show at London's Heaven this Saturday". Crack Magazine. 2018-10-10. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
- ^ "Taylor Swift Just Backed the Equality Act in VMAs Opening Performance". Pride. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
- ^ @tatiannagram (June 10, 2023). "Happy Pride! So much fun #LivinMyTruth at my hometown Pride with @mcdonaldsdmv 🌈 #Ad" – via Instagram.
- ^ "RuPaul's Drag Race star Tatianna addresses arrest: 'I was scared'". EW.com. EW. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ Burkholder (17 October 2019). "Drag Queen Tatianna Arrested During Atlanta Pride". TheGAVoice.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ True - Single by Tatianna, 2010-11-08, retrieved 2018-06-16
- ^ Touch - Single by Tatianna, 2011-05-06, retrieved 2018-06-16
- ^ Losing Control - Single by Tatianna, 2012-08-14, retrieved 2018-06-16
- ^ The Same Parts - Single by Tatianna, 2016-09-01, retrieved 2018-06-16
- ^ Winfred, Tim (2016-09-02). "EXCLUSIVE: Tatianna Reveals The Origins Of Her Provocative Spoken Word Piece". Retrieved 2018-06-16.
- ^ Transform - Single by Tatianna, 2016-10-26, retrieved 2018-06-16
- ^ Use Me - Single by Tatianna, 2017-11-28, retrieved 2018-06-16
- ^ TatiannaNow (2017-11-28), Tatianna - Use Me [Official Music Video], retrieved 2018-06-16
- ^ a b T1 by Tatianna, 2018-05-28, retrieved 2018-06-16
- ^ Molloy, Tim (November 30, 2020). "'Greenlight Yourself': Slamdance Unveils Full Lineup, Showcase for Filmmakers With Disabilities". Movie Maker. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
- ^ Nolfi, Joey (January 22, 2020). "Taylor Swift feels 'f—ing awesome' in rousing Miss Americana trailer". EW.com. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
- ^ Annie Martin (February 17, 2021). "'Drag Race's Shea Coulee says 'things are all good' with Valentina". UPI. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
- ^ Alaska Thunderfuck (2016-10-13), Alaska Thunderfuck - The T (feat. Adore Delano) [Official], retrieved 2019-06-18
- ^ TatiannaNow (2017-11-28), Tatianna - Use Me [Official Music Video], retrieved 2019-06-18
- ^ TatiannaNow (2018-08-30), Tatianna - CYA [Official Music Video], retrieved 2019-06-18
- ^ Street, Mikelle (2019-06-17), "All the Drag Queens (and Who They Appear As) in Taylor Swift's New Video", Out, retrieved 2019-06-17
- ^ WOWPresents (2014-05-07), RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView with Tatianna and Raven - Episode 12, retrieved 2019-06-18
- ^ WOWPresents (2014-05-04), Tatianna on Ring My Bell, retrieved 2019-09-13
- ^ Logo (2016-09-03), The Final Lap w/ Michelle Visage | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (Season 2 Ep 2) | Logo, retrieved 2020-03-16
- ^ Logo (2018-09-26), Tea with Tati: Partying, retrieved 2020-03-16
- ^ Hey Qween (2018-10-29), TATIANNA on the Hey Qween! HalloQween Special with Jonny McGovern, retrieved 2019-06-18
External links
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