Adore Delano


Daniel Anthony Noriega, better known by the stage name Adore Delano, is an American drag queen, singer-songwriter, and television personality. Noriega appeared as a contestant on the seventh season of American Idol in 2008 and later competed as Adore Delano in the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, reaching the final three. Noriega then went on to compete in - Season 2, placing ninth after voluntarily leaving the competition, feeling her heart was not in it. In June 2019, New York magazine published the results from their panel of judges and writers which ranked her in the top twenty Drag Race superstars. Delano has recorded and released three studio albums: Till Death Do Us Party, After Party, and Whatever.

Early life

Noriega was raised in Azusa, California, and attended Sierra High School, a continuation school for at-risk teenagers.

Career

2008: ''American Idol''

In 2008, Noriega appeared on the seventh season of American Idol, making it to the semi-finals. He became known for his flamboyant personality and sassy rapport with the judges, notably a comment towards judge Simon Cowell, which later went viral. After watching him on Idol, Rosie O'Donnell invited Noriega to perform on her R Family Vacations cruise. Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres also invited Noriega to be a guest on her show.
StageThemeSong choiceOriginal artistResult
AuditionSinger's Choice"Proud Mary"Creedence Clearwater RevivalAdvanced
HollywoodSinger's Choice"When I Need You"Albert HammondAdvanced
Top 24The 1960s"Jailhouse Rock"Elvis PresleySafe
Top 20The 1970s"Superstar"Delaney & BonnieSafe
Top 16The 1980s"Tainted Love"Gloria JonesEliminated

2009–15: ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and ''Till Death Do Us Party''

Following American Idol, Noriega became a YouTube personality, performing skits in drag as Adore Delano, or Angel Baby, another drag character. In June 2009, Noriega released the music video for song "24/7," featuring sister Diamonique.
After seeing RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Raven perform at the nightclub Micky's in West Hollywood, Delano was inspired to enter a drag competition at the club, later winning it. Following the win, Noriega started performing in Southern California as Adore Delano. Along with other RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, Adore walked the Marco Marco runway for Los Angeles Fashion Week in 2013. In December 2013, Logo announced that Adore Delano was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Delano had previously competed for the season 5 fan-vote, ultimately losing to Penny Tration. Delano eventually went on to win three challenges and made it to the final three. Along with Courtney Act, Delano finished as runner-up to season winner Bianca Del Rio.
Immediately following the finale of Drag Race, Delano released the single "DTF" on May 20, 2014, as the lead single from their debut album Till Death Do Us Party. The full album was released on June 3, 2014, charting at number three on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart, 11 on the US Independent Albums chart, and number fifty-nine on the Billboard 200. They released music videos for the majority of its tracks, including "I Adore U", which peaked at 49 on the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs.
In November 2014, Delano announced that a second album was in the works with an anticipated 2015 release date. In May 2015, Delano announced they had started writing sessions for the album.

2016–2019: ''After Party'' and ''Whatever''

Delano's album, After Party, was set for release March 11, 2016. The first single, "Dynamite", was released on February 26, 2016; the second, "Take Me There", was released on March 10, 2016; and the third, "I.C.U.", was released on September 1, 2016.
Adore was one of ten contestants on the, but chose to leave the show in the second episode for personal reasons.
Delano's third studio album, Whatever, was released on August 18, 2017.
In August 2019, Delano was featured on the cover of Gay Times.
Delano appeared as a guest for the first challenge in the premiere of season eleven of Drag Race.
Delano joined the cast of the fourth season of Ex on the Beach appearing as both Danny and Adore.

2020: Fourth album

Delano officially announced a fourth album will be released later in the year on her Twitter account on March 27, 2020.

Personal life

Noriega came out as gay at 12 years old. In a 2012 interview, he said he is not opposed to dating women. As of 2017, Noriega is non-binary and uses he/him and she/her pronouns. Noriega says that "gender isn't a real thing... it's just something they came up with to categorize and control people".

Lawsuit

On April 4, 2017, Delano filed a lawsuit against former management company, Producer Entertainment Group, alleging Delano had earned $2.5 million over the past three years, though only about $300,000 was actually paid. P.E.G. countersued in January 2018, alleging Delano owed the company $180,000 in management fees.

Discography

Headlining
Co-headlining act
Promotional
!scope="row"| 2016

Filmography

Film

TitleYearDirectorRoleNotes
Dragged2015Christopher BirkSelf
TupiniQueens2015João MonteiroSelfDocumentary about drag queen's scene in Brazil.

Television

Web series

TitleYearNotes
Let the Music Play2014
Hey Qween2015Episode: "Adore Delano"
Portrait of a Queen2018Episode: "Love & Adore"
Bestie$ For Ca$h2018Episode: "Adore Delano and Chris Crocker"
The View: Facebook Live2019Episode: "Pride Month 2019"

Music videos