Alyssa Edwards


Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, known by his stage name Alyssa Edwards, is an American drag performer, choreographer, and businessperson. Johnson was known for competing in drag pageantry before rising to international attention on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, becoming a fan favorite during and after his time on the show. 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.
Johnson lives in Mesquite, Texas, where he owns and runs a studio, Beyond Belief Dance Company. Johnson and his dance studio are the centerpieces of a docuseries, Dancing Queen, produced by RuPaul and World of Wonder that premiered on October 5, 2018 on Netflix.

Career

Johnson performs under the stage name Alyssa Edwards. He chose his name in homage to Alyssa Milano and to his drag mother Laken Edwards, a former drag queen. Johnson is part of the drag family "the Haus of Edwards," and serves as drag mother to fellow RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Shangela Laquifa Wadley, Laganja Estranja, Gia Gunn, Vivienne Pinay, and Plastique Tiara. Johnson was one of the judges of the 2010 California Entertainer of the Year pageant, where Shangela won.
Johnson appeared in the 2008 documentary Pageant. The film focused on the 34th Miss Gay America pageant of 2006. On December 9, 2010, Johnson was stripped of his 2010 Miss Gay America title for having business dealings in conflict with obligations to the Miss Gay America organization. First alternate Coco Montrese replaced Johnson as the winner of Miss Gay America. That same year, Johnson was also stripped of his title as All American Goddess.
In November 2012, Logo announced that Johnson was among 14 drag queens who would be competing on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Also performing on the show was pageant friend and rival Coco Montrese.
Performing as Alyssa Edwards throughout the season, Johnson won the ballet-themed main challenge in the "Black Swan: Why It Gotta Be Black?" episode. As part of the show, Johnson sang on the "We Are the World"-inspired song "Can I Get an Amen?" The song's proceeds helped benefit the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. Johnson was eliminated in episode nine, following a lip sync against Coco Montrese, and finished in sixth place. Johnson has also been a special guest on the podcast series run by RuPaul and Michelle Visage called
Johnson is also known for his web series titled "Alyssa's Secret". The series stars Johnson performing as Alyssa Edwards speaking on a multitude of subjects and often features guests including other members of the Haus of Edwards. The webseries is produced and premieres through World of Wonder Productions.
In 2016, Johnson returned as one of 10 contestants in Season 2 of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, ending in fifth place. Johnson won the main challenge of the third episode titled "Herstory of the World", playing Annie Oakley in a performance featuring other famous women throughout history. He was then eliminated in episode four "Drag Movie Shequels", after playing Bland in "Wha' Ha' Happened to Baby JJ", a parody of "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?", with Alaska as Baby JJ.
He returned in episode five "Revenge of the Queens" by winning a chance to reenter the competition, winning a comedy challenge with Alaska followed by a lip sync of Rihanna's 'Shut Up and Drive', in which both Edwards and Tatianna won. Johnson was then controversially eliminated a second time by Detox in episode seven "A Family that Drags Together", coming in fifth place overall.
In 2019, Edwards released her very own makeup palette in collaboration with Anastasia Beverly Hills.
In Episode 2 of All Stars 5, Alyssa made a guest appearance as a "Lip Sync Assassin", where she lip-synced against Shea Couleé, but lost.

Titles

Edwards competed in and won numerous pageant titles. They include:

Film

Television

Music videos

Web series

Awards and nominations