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56-440: Willam Belli ( / ˈ b ɛ l aɪ / , born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam , is an American drag queen , actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber . Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race in 2012, but was disqualified in the "Frenemies" challenge. Before appearing on Drag Race , Willam worked as an actor, most notably playing

112-594: A Latinized version (where "u" become "v", and "j" becomes "i") of his family surname , "Arouet, l[e] j[eune]" ("Arouet, the young"); it reversed the syllables of the name of the town his father came from, Airvault; and it has implications of speed and daring through similarity to French expressions such as voltige , volte-face and volatile . "Arouet" would not have served the purpose, given that name's associations with " roué " and with an expression that meant "for thrashing". The 19th-century French author Marie-Henri Beyle (1783–1842) used many pen names , most famously

168-665: A "Dragatha Christie". They reprised the performance on a tour across the UK before returning to the West End in late 2022 to headline a sequel Death Drop: Back in the Habit again followed by a UK tour. They reprised their performance in the original play when it premiered Off-Broadway in Summer 2023. Belli was nominated for his performance on the Netflix dark comedy web series EastSiders at

224-502: A Big Schlong" on April 29, 2012, which became a viral hit being viewed more than a million times on YouTube alone. Produced by Uncle Slam , the song parodies " Love You Like a Love Song " by Selena Gomez & the Scene . The song was inspired by Belli's loss to 7-year-old Eden Wood in a lip syncing contest during a segment of the 2012 NewNowNext Awards . In November 2012, Belli was featured with country music artist Drake Jensen on

280-521: A Bottom ", featuring Detox and Vicky Vox, to coincide with the fifth season premiere of RuPaul's Drag Race . Its timing and the use of social media made it a very well received release. The song is a parody of " Girl on Fire " by Alicia Keys and also features an altered version of the "breakdown" from " My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It) " by En Vogue . "Boy Is a Bottom" debuted at number six on Billboard ' s Comedy Digital Songs, selling 3,000 downloads in its first week. On August 14, 2013, Belli

336-618: A Bottom ", whose music videos were viral successes. Following the breakup of DWV, Willam formed another drag supergroup, the AAA Girls , with Courtney Act and Alaska Thunderfuck . Willam Belli was born to Debbi Ruzic Belli in Philadelphia. He is the younger of two children. He has a sister, Samantha. Belli states he is of Yugoslav and Italian heritage. He lived in Florida for middle school and high school. Belli's father worked at

392-554: A Digital Daytime Drama Series . Since 2012, Willam has recorded three albums of comedy music, mostly consisting of parodies of popular songs. Her second album, Shartistry in Motion , debuted at number one on the Billboard Comedy Albums chart. Between 2012 and 2014, she recorded several songs as part of the group DWV (alongside drag queens Vicky Vox and Detox ), including the parodies " Chow Down " and " Boy Is

448-462: A Willam, There's a Way in October 2016 through Grand Central Publishing . In 2017, he released his first perfume collaboration with Xyrena , Scented by Willam. On May 18, 2017, it was revealed that Fullscreen had ordered a talk show to be hosted by Belli. Suck Less , billed as a weekly half-hour call-in show 'where Willam throws shade and shows how to slay the game of life in six-inch stilettos'

504-415: A closing night party. From there, he would dress in drag to watch performances of The Rocky Horror Show , and was paid for a drag performance for the first time at the age of 16. Belli was overweight when he was young but lost the extra pounds by becoming vegetarian before being emancipated at 16. Belli met his husband, Bruce, at nineteen. They were married on September 9, 2008. Belli's first acting credit

560-661: A combination of two personal names typically given by a Buddhist monk. There are no inherited family names; instead, Bhutanese differentiate themselves with nicknames or prefixes. In the Near East 's Arab world, the Syrian poet Ali Ahmad Said Esber (born 1930) at age 17 adopted the mononym pseudonym, Adunis , sometimes also spelled "Adonis". A perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, he has been described as

616-465: A common denominator for public engagement and collaboration. Since 1985, Young has been documenting pop, sub, and trans culture while playing with the themes of camp (style) , celebrity, gender and identity through portrait photography and film. Young is one of the creators of the open-source Tranimal Workshop events, launched in 2009 at Machine Project in Los Angeles. The concept of

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672-444: A cover of Tammy Wynette 's " Stand by Your Man ". That same month, Belli self-released her debut album The Wreckoning via his website. Willam has claimed that she was originally cast on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars in 2012, but was dropped from the cast two days before filming was scheduled to begin. The reason given to Willam by production was that they did not see her "having stakes or stories with any of

728-492: A given name and a surname. Some companies get around this by entering the mononym as both the given name and the surname. Austin Young Austin Young (born April 12, 1966) is an American photographer, film maker and new media artist based in Los Angeles, known for both celebrity portraits and documentation of sub and trans culture. Young is co-founder of Fallen Fruit , an art collective that uses fruit as

784-661: A lifetime. In European and American histories, prominent Native Americans are usually mononymous, using a name that was frequently garbled and simplified in translation. For example, the Aztec emperor whose name was preserved in Nahuatl documents as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin was called "Montezuma" in subsequent histories. In current histories he is often named Moctezuma II , using the European custom of assigning regnal numbers to hereditary heads of state. Some French authors have shown

840-463: A local club, with producer Steven Corfe, whom she had previously made apologize to her for asking her to leave Untucked after Willam spoke out about "emotional manipulation" being done to Jiggly Caliente over the one-year anniversary of her mother's death. As the two were being escorted out of the bathroom after being discovered having sex, Corfe is said to have thrown a cup at the performer on stage that night, fellow Drag Race alum Raven , getting

896-539: A panel of judges from New York magazine placed her ninth on their list of "the most powerful drag queens in America", a ranking of 100 former Drag Race contestants. In 2021, Belli was announced as the star of Iconic Justice , a courtroom show in which Belli will hear and rule on various legal and social disputes between LGBTQ people. In May 2021 Belli made their West End debut in the play Death Drop , an all-drag spoof on an Agatha Christie murder mystery billed as

952-467: A preference for mononyms. In the 17th century, the dramatist and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (1622–73) took the mononym stage name Molière. In the 18th century, François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778) adopted the mononym Voltaire , for both literary and personal use, in 1718 after his imprisonment in Paris' Bastille , to mark a break with his past. The new name combined several features. It was an anagram for

1008-427: A production member for not knowing Latrice's name "just because (Willam) felt like it". Willam, along with cast members such as Royale and Chad Michaels , attempted to make a stand against the production members. Willam also claimed that, outside of filming hours, the queens weren't being adequately fed, noting that $ 75 was all that was allocated to feed the 12 contestants- Willam claims that this necessitated visits to

1064-621: A single entitled, "American Apparel Ad Girls". They also released a second single together, "Dear Santa, Bring Me a Man" for the Christmas season. On January 13, 2017, he released a solo version of the DWV hit "Boy Is a Bottom", in Spanish, entitled, "Es Una Pasiva", which went on to top the comedy iTunes chart. Belli self-released his sophomore studio album, Shartistry in Motion , on June 2. Belli released his first book Suck Less: Where There's

1120-472: A single name. Alulim , first king of Sumer , is one of the earliest names known; Narmer , an ancient Egyptian pharaoh , is another. In addition, Biblical names like Adam , Eve , Moses , or Abraham , were typically mononymous, as were names in the surrounding cultures of the Fertile Crescent . Ancient Greek names like Heracles , Homer , Plato , Socrates , and Aristotle , also follow

1176-730: A small role in the film American Wedding . In 2008, Belli was featured on the single artwork for the song " Breakin' Up " by Rilo Kiley . He has also modeled as part of the Tranimal Master Class Workshop at the Machine Project , which was photographed by Austin Young . Belli is a member of the band Tranzkuntinental, which made its debut at The Roxy in 2009. The band was started by Charlie Paulson and Xander Smith and features drag queens Detox , Kelly Mantle , Rhea Litré , and Vicky Vox. In January 2011, he

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1232-767: A tradition of single names. In modern times, in countries that have long been part of the East Asian cultural sphere (Japan, the Koreas, Vietnam, and China), mononyms are rare. An exception pertains to the Emperor of Japan . Mononyms are common in Indonesia , especially in Javanese names . Single names still also occur in Tibet . Most Afghans also have no surname. In Bhutan , most people use either only one name or

1288-464: Is a Dolly Parton impersonator who flirts with Jackson. The dialogue in his scenes was mostly improvised, including a memorable moment in which his character has Jackson autograph her silicone breastplate. Bradley Cooper , who also directed the film, said that Willam and Shangela "blew his mind" with their ad-libbing. On July 18, 2018, the first episode of Belli's Drag Race -themed podcast co-hosted with Alaska Thunderfuck and entitled Race Chaser ,

1344-505: Is set to debut in the summer. Friends from Belli's everyday life, as well as some of his favorite drag queens are expected to put in guest appearances over the course of the 13-episode series. In 2018, Willam appeared in the critically acclaimed film A Star Is Born . Willam and fellow drag queen Shangela play queens working in a drag bar alongside Lady Gaga 's character Ally when she's discovered by famous country singer Jackson Maine, played by Bradley Cooper . Willam's character, Emerald,

1400-712: The Javanese ), Myanmar , Mongolia , Tibet , and South India . In other cases, a person may select a single name from their polynym or adopt a mononym as a chosen name, pen name , stage name , or regnal name . A popular nickname may effectively become a mononym, in some cases adopted legally. For some historical figures, a mononym is the only name that is still known today. The word mononym comes from English mono- ("one", "single") and -onym ("name", "word"), ultimately from Greek mónos (μόνος, "single"), and ónoma (ὄνομα, "name"). The structure of persons' names has varied across time and geography. In some societies, individuals have been mononymous, receiving only

1456-473: The Kennedy Space Center . His aunt is television director Mary Lou Belli . Growing up, Willam frequently illustrated dresses, to which many people assumed that he wanted to become a fashion designer , but he asserted that he designed the garments with the intent to wear them himself. He later worked in costume design in theatre, and, at the age of 13, he was put in drag for the first time at

1512-445: The 'so-called' official reason was just a fabrication by the show's creators for the purpose of portraying a more palatable scenario of Belli's departure from the show. In that interview, Willam claimed that the genuine reason for his removal was due to increasing hostilities and issues between the contestants and the crew, and that, whenever she had broken the rules, she would report it directly to production in hopes of being removed from

1568-401: The 17th and 18th centuries, most Italian castrato singers used mononyms as stage names (e.g. Caffarelli , Farinelli ). The German writer, mining engineer, and philosopher Georg Friedrich Philipp Freiherr von Hardenberg (1772–1801) became famous as Novalis . The 18th-century Italian painter Bernardo Bellotto , who is now ranked as an important and original painter in his own right, traded on

1624-712: The 47th Daytime Emmy Awards. Belli was nominated for his role on RuPaul's Drag Race at the fifth annual NewNowNext Awards which aired on Logo network on April 9, 2012. He lost to Nadia G. of Bitchin' Kitchen which airs on the Food Network Canada and the Cooking Channel . Mononym A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains common in modern societies such as in Afghanistan , Bhutan , Indonesia (especially by

1680-652: The cast. She has also stated that she believes her replacement in the cast was Mimi Imfurst . Phi Phi later appeared on the next season of All Stars . Beginning in December 2012, Belli began a YouTube series associated with thestylishvids titled "Willam's Beatdown". A comedy segment involving insult humor and video reviews, the series would eventually be renewed for a second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth season that then premiered on Belli's self-titled channel. In January 2013, Belli would have his biggest viral hit with 20 million hits on YouTube alone, when he released " Boy Is

1736-618: The clan) – the nomen and cognomen were almost always hereditary. Mononyms in other ancient cultures include Hannibal , the Celtic queen Boudica , and the Numidian king Jugurtha . During the early Middle Ages , mononymity slowly declined, with northern and eastern Europe keeping the tradition longer than the south. The Dutch Renaissance scholar and theologian Erasmus is a late example of mononymity; though sometimes referred to as "Desiderius Erasmus" or "Erasmus of Rotterdam", he

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1792-446: The conjugal visit story was made up by producers and Willam agreed to "go along with the excuse" so that "everyone looked okay". Belli used the publicity of his disqualification to release his single " Chow Down ", which was a parody of Wilson Phillips ' " Hold On " that addressed the 2012 Chick-fil-A same-sex marriage controversy . The song featured Detox and Vicky Vox. On March 12, 2012, she released her first single "Trouble", which

1848-686: The emperor and his family have no surname, only a given name, such as Hirohito , which in practice in Japanese is rarely used: out of respect and as a measure of politeness, Japanese prefer to say "the Emperor" or "the Crown Prince". Roman Catholic popes have traditionally adopted a single, regnal name upon their election . John Paul I broke with this tradition – adopting a double name honoring his two predecessors – and his successor John Paul II followed suit, but Benedict XVI reverted to

1904-491: The episode "Reunited", Belli stated that her disqualification was due to conjugal visits made by his husband in his hotel room. By Belli's own account however, in the years since airing season 4, Willam has refuted the "official story" in multiple interviews. Belli's most recent reassertion about the circumstances of her disqualification is in an interview with YouTuber Joseph Shepherd in February 2019, where Belli claims that

1960-476: The girls". Willam believes that she was dropped from the cast because of her appearance on RuPaul's Drag U a few months prior, which she had only appeared on because another queen, later claimed to be Phi Phi O'Hara , had allegedly failed her background check, and, as Willam believes that she would've had the "most stakes" with Phi Phi (who no longer could appear on the show), resulted in Willam being dropped from

2016-518: The greatest living poet of the Arab world. In the West, mononymity, as well as its use by royals in conjunction with titles, has been primarily used or given to famous people such as prominent writers, artists , entertainers , musicians and athletes . The comedian and illusionist Teller , the silent half of the duo Penn & Teller , legally changed his original polynym, Raymond Joseph Teller, to

2072-460: The imposition of Western-style names, one of the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was for all provinces and territories to waive fees to allow Indigenous people to legally assume traditional names, including mononyms. In Ontario , for example, it is now legally possible to change to a single name or register one at birth, for members of Indigenous nations which have

2128-451: The mononym "Teller" and possesses a United States passport issued in that single name. While some have chosen their own mononym, others have mononyms chosen for them by the public. Oprah Winfrey , American talk show host, is usually referred to by only her first name, Oprah. Elvis Presley , American singer, is usually referred to by only his first name, Elvis. Western computer systems do not always support monynyms, most still requiring

2184-470: The mononym Stendhal, adapted from the name of the little Prussian town of Stendal , birthplace of the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann , whom Stendhal admired. Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, 1820–1910) was an early French photographer. In the 20th century, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873–1954, author of Gigi , 1945), used her actual surname as her mononym pen name, Colette. In

2240-644: The mononymous pseudonym Witkacy, a conflation of his surname ( Witkiewicz ) and middle name ( Ignacy ). Monarchs and other royalty , for example Napoleon , have traditionally availed themselves of the privilege of using a mononym, modified when necessary by an ordinal or epithet (e.g., Queen Elizabeth II or Charles the Great ). This is not always the case: King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has two names. While many European royals have formally sported long chains of names, in practice they have tended to use only one or two and not to use surnames . In Japan,

2296-537: The mononymous pseudonym of his uncle and teacher, Antonio Canal ( Canaletto ), in those countries—Poland and Germany—where his famous uncle was not active, calling himself likewise "Canaletto". Bellotto remains commonly known as "Canaletto" in those countries to this day. The 19th-century Dutch writer Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820–87), better known by his mononymous pen name Multatuli (from the Latin multa tuli , "I have suffered [or borne ] many things"), became famous for

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2352-565: The name. A departure from this custom occurred, for example, among the Romans , who by the Republican period and throughout the Imperial period used multiple names : a male citizen's name comprised three parts (this was mostly typical of the upper class, while others would usually have only two names): praenomen (given name), nomen (clan name) and cognomen (family line within

2408-499: The pattern, with epithets (similar to second names) only used subsequently by historians to distinguish between individuals with the same name, as in the case of Zeno the Stoic and Zeno of Elea ; likewise, patronymics or other biographic details (such as city of origin, or another place name or occupation the individual was associated with) were used to specify whom one was talking about, but these details were not considered part of

2464-485: The recurring role of transgender woman Cherry Peck in Ryan Murphy 's medical drama Nip/Tuck . She has continued to perform in a variety of films, television series and web series, often in drag. In 2018, she appeared in the critically acclaimed film A Star Is Born . For her performance on the dark comedy web series EastSiders , she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in

2520-493: The satirical novel, Max Havelaar (1860), in which he denounced the abuses of colonialism in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia ). The 20th-century British author Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916) became known by his pen name , Saki. In 20th-century Poland, the theater-of-the-absurd playwright , novelist, painter , photographer, and philosopher Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (1885–1939) after 1925 often used

2576-490: The show. Willam claims that many members of the crew were rude and condescending towards the drag queens in general, with some of the crew members not even bothering to try to learn the contestant's names - sharing one example of a crew member repeatedly calling season 4 fellow contestant Latrice Royale "La-something", despite all the crew having cards with the photographs of the queens/contestants (in and out of drag) worn around their necks. At one point, Willam verbally barked at

2632-402: The store for food. Willam also revealed that she frequently got other contestants high and/or drunk, attempted to steal items from the set such as feather fans and RuPaul-branded Ironfist shoes, and had access to a computer in her hotel room, which was outlawed by production, in order to run her " go-go boy side hustle". She has additionally claimed to have had sex in the bathroom of Micky's Weho,

2688-475: The two ejected from the club. Outside of the club, the duo ran into more World of Wonder staff members, including Drag Race producer Chris McKim (claimed by Willam to be Corfe's best friend), who had to physically separate the two, as they were still "making out". Weeks later, Corfe allegedly contacted Willam again and invited her out to lunch with the intent to chat with her and "get (Willam) back in with World of Wonder", of which Willam obliged. According to Belli,

2744-451: The use of a single name. Surnames were introduced in Turkey only after World War I , by the country's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk , as part of his Westernization and modernization programs. Some North American Indigenous people continue their nations' traditional naming practices, which may include the use of single names. In Canada , where government policy often included

2800-502: Was as the role of a street hustler named Bart Jaker on two episodes of The District (2002) and his first TV appearance was on an episode of the game show Street Smarts . He later appeared in the TV series Boston Public , Cold Case , The Shield , My Name Is Earl and most notably Nip/Tuck as the transgender character Cherry Peck. Throughout the 2000s he would go on to play small roles in many television shows. He also had

2856-518: Was christened only as "Erasmus", after the martyr Erasmus of Formiae . Composers in the ars nova and ars subtilior styles of late medieval music were often known mononymously—potentially because their names were sobriquets —such as Borlet , Egardus , Egidius , Grimace , Solage , and Trebor . Naming practices of indigenous peoples of the Americas are highly variable, with one individual often bearing more than one name over

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2912-577: Was featured along with Shangela , Detox , Raven , Morgan McMichaels , Landon Cider , Shannel , and Courtney Act , in Lady Gaga 's lyric video for her single " Applause ". Belli's trio, including Detox and Vicky Vox, called DWV , officially split in June 2014 due to a personal conflict between the members. Belli then became an American Apparel Ad Girl alongside Drag Race alumni Courtney Act and Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 which they supported with

2968-669: Was featured in Rihanna 's music video " S&M " along with Detox and Morgan McMichaels as back-up dancers. World of Wonder contacted Willam's management asking for her to audition for the fourth season of RuPaul's Drag Race . She decided to apply after being rejected for an acting role in Don Johnson 's pilot, A Mann's World , when the casting director of the pilot (which later went unaired), who had previously cast Willam in Cinema Verite , didn't cast her because she

3024-536: Was not a "name". The role later went to Cara Cunningham . In November 2011, Logo TV announced that Belli was among 13 contestants competing on the fourth season. Fellow castmate Chad Michaels had competed with Belli in the California Entertainer of the Year Pageant in 2010. Belli won the main challenges in the episodes "Float Your Boat" and "Frenemies", but was disqualified in the latter. In

3080-498: Was produced by RuPaul 's Red Hot collaborator Tom Trujillo. The music video for the song was directed by porn director Chi Chi LaRue and premiered on Logo TV . On March 21, Belli released "The Vagina Song", a parody of " Billionaire " by Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars as his third single, which had been previously uploaded to YouTube in 2010. The music video was directed by Michael Serrato, who also directed Belli's music video for " Chow Down ". Belli released "Love You Like

3136-1054: Was published on the Forever Dog Network. In 2020 Alaska and Willam announced that they would be setting up their own podcast network in collaboration with Forever Dog, Moguls of Media (MOM), featuring a "star-studded roster of iconic drag queens and queer luminaries" to bridge "the past, present, and future of LGBTQ+ entertainment". Podcasts established under the Moguls of Media brand and executive produced by Willam and Alaska include The Chop , hosted by Latrice Royale and Manila Luzon ; Very That , hosted by Delta Work and Raja ; Hi Jinkx! , hosted by Jinkx Monsoon ; Famous This Week , hosted by Priyanka and formerly Brooke Lynn Hytes ; Sloppy Seconds , hosted by Big Dipper and Meatball ; Wanna Be On Top? , hosted by Shea Couleé ; and Hall & Closet , hosted by Jaida Essence Hall and Heidi N Closet . In 2019, Belli launched his own makeup line, Suck Less Face & Body. In June 2019,

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