Tag: Charlie Brown

Mr. Charlie Brown, the reigning queen of Atlanta drag queens, has taken her final bow. The performer died Thursday night at Piedmont Hospital from complications following heart valve replacement surgery. He was 74. For 50 years, the self-proclaimed “Bitch of the South” entertained Atlantans with his bawdy brand of comedy, withering audience monologues, and risqué musical numbers on stage at Lips Atlanta, the Atlanta Eagle, Underground Atlanta, Illusions, and dozens of other nightlight spots.

12-time Emmy-winning global drag superstar RuPaul fondly recalls his star-making days in Atlanta in the late 1970s and early 80s in his new memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, released this week. Here are five of the most Atlanta-centric moments recounted in the new book.

With the help of the nearly 10,000-person Facebook group I Partied at Backstreet who served as curators, we’ve assembled this massive three-decade, nearly 12-and-a-half-hour Backstreet playlist for our readers.

Backstreet’s infamous 10,000-plus nights of dancing, drag, drugs, and debauchery, spanning the years from 1975 to 2004—recounted by the people who owned the club, worked there, documented its life span, and, of course, partied inside the legendary Atlanta nightspot.

Al Clayton's photographs, on display at Chamblee's EBD4 gallery, celebrate the campy hedonists who made Atlanta a playground for nonconformists 40 years ago.

Former Atlantan RuPaul may 
be our national claim to drag queen fame, but locals give props to his 
compatriot, Charlie Brown—a performer in our gay scene for more than four decades.