When it comes to drag, Alexye’us Paris sticks to what brought her to the stage 25 years ago. Combining her love of the divas and entertaining the masses, Paris is celebrating a decade of performing drag full-time—and she’s just getting started.

“I started off doing local talent nights and competing in local bar pageants,” Paris said. She has been performing since 1997 and has seen her craft evolve over the years. “While I can dance, I love to bring songs to life with my lip-syncing and overall look. It's very over-the-top glam,” said the queen, who was born in San Angelo. Of her showstopping, fabulously overstated signature look, she simply said: “We are in Texas, and everything is bigger.”

With drag being front and center in the mainstream now more than ever, Paris is adamant about bringing it back to the basics with her performances. “In recent years, drag has become so commercialized and widespread,” she said. “I personally still love the old-school style, where it was more than just kicks and splits.”

The director of entertainment at Hamburger Mary’s spends every weekend performing at the bar and grill. “I can also be seen at Eagle Houston on Sundays at 7 p.m. and Wednesdays at 11 p.m.,” she said. As for what has kept her in the drag scene for nearly three decades, Paris said her favorite part of performing is "being able to captivate the audience for the five to seven minutes I'm on stage.”

Meet the Queens

Alexye’us Paris | Blackberri | Chloe Crawford Ross | Mistress Isabelle Brooks | Muffy Vanderbilt III | Persephone