20 lip sync songs I’d love to see on RuPaul’s Drag Race
For the most part, the gay in charge of picking the lip sync songs on Drag Race does a decent job. Though you do get the odd questionable choice **cough** Lorde Green Light **cough** there are also unexpected and inspired ones like Lizzo’s Phone on All Stars 6, and they generally know everything the gays want and how to give it to them. Still, there are some songs – and indeed, artists – I’m amazed have never made it to the main stage playlist…
Ava Max – Sweet But Psycho
Ava has been confirmed as a guest judge for season 14 so I’d say this is pretty much a sure thing already, but part of me is still surprised it’s not yet been used on any version of the franchise in the last two years.
Kelly Rowland – Commander
Kelendria Rowland giving us one of the best dance pop songs of the century deserves its recognition on the main stage of Drag Race. It’s a high energy song but also has the levels to make for a great lip sync performance.
Shakira – She Wolf
Another surprising main stage lip sync virgin, Shakira has been delivering pop hits for more than two decades and this fan favourite would be a great way to pop her lip sync cherry.
Katy Perry – Walking On Air
Speaking of fan favourites, the Sparks of Katy’s discography (iykyk) is another great dance song that I’m sure would be welcomed by viewers, and though it was never a single Drag Race has been known to feature the occasional deep cut.
Pussycat Dolls – React
What should have been the comeback of the millennium sadly limped off the charts barely leaving a dent, which I’m totally happy to blame on the pandemic because there’s no other logical explanation. As with any non-ballad PCD song, it’s undoubtedly a great performance track.
Nicole Scherzinger – Poison
Speaking of underrated bangers in the NSMU (Nicole Scherzinger Musicalic Universe) this high energy number didn’t seem to gain much traction anywhere outside the UK & Ireland but it hasn’t aged a day and has great main stage potential.
Danity Kane – Bad Girl ft. Missy Elliott
They are so dragged up in this video a Drag Race lip sync for your life just seems like the natural progression!
Gwen Stefani – What You Waiting For
Another artist whose lack of representation on the main stage astounds me, Gwen is the type of pop star who knows not to take herself too seriously all the time (like sampling a Fiddler on the Roof song im-so-random.gif) and this track has just the right balance of kitsch and drama.
Kesha – Woman
Drag Race loves songs in the “I am woman” theme which this obviously suits perfectly, though according to Reddit rumours her legal issues with Dr. L*ke still preclude her from licensing her music as and when she likes
Ashlee Simpson – Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)
This might seem like a choice out of left field if you’re under 25, but for anyone older it should make perfect sense.
Heidi Montag – Body Language
See above, but also just the sheer audacity she had in giving everything to become a pop star takes the camp up at least 86%.
Tyra Banks – Shake Ya Body
I already know this will NEVER happen, but this is a list about DREAMS. This Darkchild-produced number pretty much only existed in the context of America’s Next Top Model, but save for its relative obscurity in the music world I maintain that it is a stone-cold 00s classic!
Britney Spears – Piece Of Me
Drag Race has definitely kept Britney fans (and in turn, J*mie Spe*rs) well fed over the years, not to mention that they dedicated the entire season 13 finale to her music. Having already gone through a decent chunk of her singles catalogue, I think Piece of Me would make for the next great Britney lip sync.
Gloria Estefan – Conga
Our Gloria has been making top-quality Latin dance pop since the 1900s and any number of her songs could make for an equally great lip sync, but this one in particular is just bags of fun and high energy.
Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass
It’s a shame that her occasionally cringe music and antics (including, ironically, her poorly-received guest judge stint on Drag Race) seem to have eclipsed the fact that Meghan is personally responsible for at least five top-tier pop tracks, which is still more than a lot of the pop girls could ask for. This being one of them, they annoyingly went with non-single Woman Up when she was actually on the show (presumably for promotional reasons) when All About That Bass is objectively a much better and well-known song, also making for a better lip sync.
Lady Gaga – Paparazzi
Nothing was more terrifying than when Gaga appeared on Drag Race during the Joanne era because while I grew to love that album it’s not exactly full of “bangers”, and the last thing anyone needed was an ironic but emotional Million Reasons LSFYL. To be fair, the Gaga songs they’ve featured to date have been great choices, and as shown in her iconic VMAs performance you can really put on a show with Paparazzi.
Tina Turner – Nutbush City Limits
I sort of feel like the jury’s out on whether or not the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll herself is also a gay icon (lmk in the comments!) because in spite of her extraordinary fame and success she never seems to appear in those conversations as readily as her contemporaries like Cher and Dolly Parton, but at the same time on paper she has all the requirements. Regardless, she is definitely a legendary musical icon and in the hands of the right queen, this song has all the makings for a FAB lip sync performance.
No Doubt – Just A Girl
Gwen Stefani is just a rock chick. She likes to rock out. She likes to throw shit around. She likes to go nuts. She likes to lose herself on stage. She likes to scream, she likes to holler, she likes to break things, she likes to yell. She likes to get her anger out. And I would like to see all that on Drag Race.
Vanessa Carlton – A Thousand Miles
Another one for the “this will literally never happen” pile, a great song but not an obvious song choice. As White Chicks has shown us, there is great comedic potential here so amazing things could be achieved by a queen with the right idea.
Whitney Houston – It’s Not Right, But It’s OK
This song has techincally already appeared as a lip sync but 1. It was the Thunderpuss Remix, and 2. It was at the live finale (remember those?!). I was so happy they’d used it but I’d really always been longing for the original version which is just brimming with attitude and drama, and would also benefit from the intimacy of the main stage where the queens would be more likely to ham it up rather than just give a full-on dance performance.
This article was originally published on the Pop Warrior blog – 7 January 2022
🗨️ Join the discussion
Which songs would you love to see performed on Drag Race?