We love lip syncs on RuPaul’s Drag Race. When done well, we love lip sync performances of all kinds: campy, sensual, high-energy, or emotional. There’s a time and place for lip syncs with stunts, and also without. Some songs are great for a good ole’ back-and-bark, while others are all about taking up as much space as possible in the performance.
And yet, we’ve seen a few Drag Race stars who went through their entire seasons without ever needing to actually lip sync for their lives!
Before we get to the list, we should establish the parameters and criteria that we’re following in this article. To start, be mindful that we’re only considering US seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race and All Stars, not international seasons.
We’re also disregarding the top 4 group lip syncs between all of the semifinalist queens. Yes, we know that those lip syncs had eliminations: Darienne Lake in season 6, Kennedy Davenport in season 7, and Chi Chi DeVayne in season 8. However, those group lip syncs felt mandatory (rather than just having the bottom 2 queens competing for a spot at the grand finale) and inconsequential (the queens eliminated in these lip syncs had already been chosen to stay out of the finale).
Overall, it’s hard to argue that those were “competitive” lip syncs rather than just pro forma. When Bianca Del Rio made a stunt appearance as a fake Lip Sync Assassin on All Stars 6, she even said it herself:
“If I didn’t have to do it in my season, why do it now?”
On the other hand, we are considering the lip syncs for your life that the finalists must win in order to face off in the ultimate lip sync for the crown at the finale. Sasha Velour’s rose petal reveal lip sync, which defeated Shea Couleé, was very much a competitive battle that took Sasha to the end and eliminated Shea despite her being the clear frontrunner.
In other words, those first two first lip syncs in the finale brackets do count. The winning queen moves forward for a chance to win the crown, and the losing queen is asked to sashay away. These are more “competitive” lip syncs in our eyes, and not just a final lap for queens wearing their “best drag” outfits on a stage filled with three other contestants who are barely moving.
If you disagree with our criteria, that’s totally okay — feel free to make a list of your own! But if you like our criteria, find out which Drag Race queens made the list.
Keep scrolling to find out which RuPaul’s Drag Race queens never had to lip sync for their lives — and check out new episodes of All Stars 9 streaming every Friday on P aramount+.
Nina Flowers (Season 1)
Nina Flowers never landed in the bottom 2 during her entire run on Drag Race season 1. Her first and only time lip syncing was against BeBe Zahara Benet at the grand finale, which was a lip sync for the crown. When she returned to All Stars 1 and competed as a team with Tammie Brown, Nina also did not lip sync. The pair only fell in the bottom 2 once, Tammie was picked to lip sync on behalf of their duo, and they were subsequently eliminated during that episode.
Bianca Del Rio (Season 6)
As aforementioned, Bianca Del Rio herself acknowledges that she never really had to lip sync throughout all of season 6. The only lip sync performance we got from Bianca was the top 4 group lip sync that determined which three queens would make it to the grand finale. But that’s not exactly what we think as a lip sync for your life.
Courtney Act (Season 6)
Courtney Act had the exact same journey as Bianca in terms of lip syncing in season 6. She got all the way to the grand finale without any bottom 2 placements, and thus never had to lip sync for her life. She, like Bianca, did participate in the top 4 semifinals lip sync… but that pre-determined lip sync was her only time doing it.
Violet Chachki (Season 7)
The fabulous and fashion-forward Violet Chachki also never landed in the bottom during her entire season, so she never had to lip sync for her life. With such an impeccable track record, her life in the competition was never truly at risk in the top 4, in-season lip sync that determined the top 3 of that season.
‘Cause let’s be real: if those semifinal lip syncs did count, Kennedy Davenport wouldn’t have been eliminated before the finale. She was literally the best lip syncer among all four of the remaining queens, and it wasn’t even close!
Kim Chi (Season 8)
Kim Chi is another flawless diva and doll who got all the way to the season 8 finale without having to lip sync for her life. Again, one could argue that she did perform in the top 4 lip sync that eliminated Chi Chi DeVayne, but that was more about establishing the top 3 between Kim, Bob the Drag Queen, and Naomi Smalls rather than the queens seriously fighting for a spot at the grand finale.
Nymphia Wind (Season 16)
Before anyone accuses us of forgetting about our mother, our saint, and our goddess Sasha Colby: please remember that season 15 had an entire Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown challenge where all of the remaining queens had to lip sync for their lives as a maxi challenge. Sasha Colby never fell into the bottom two and only lip synced for the crown at the finale, but she did lip sync for her life in that maxi challenge.
On the other hand, season 16 winner Nymphia Wind, didn’t have to lip sync for her life AT ALL throughout the entire competition. She only lip synced once in the entire show — the lip sync for the crown at the grand finale against Sapphira Cristál — which culminated in Nymphia’s crowning.