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Alaska Thunderfuck
Thunderfuck performing on the AAA Girls tour in Denver (c.2017)
Born	Justin Andrew Honard (1985-03-06) March 6, 1985 (age 33) Erie, Pennsylvania
Residence	Los Angeles, California, US
Other names	Alaska, Alaska Thunderf*ck 5000, Alaska 5000, Alaska Thunderfun
Alma mater	University of Pittsburgh
Occupation	Drag queen recording artist
Years active	2006–present
Known for	RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 2) winner
Height	6'1"
Predecessor	Chad Michaels
Successor	Trixie Mattel
Musical career
Genres	dance pop R&B rap
Website	alaskathunderfuck.com

Alaska Thunderfuck 5000 (primarily known mononymously as Alaska) is the stage name of Justin Andrew Honard,^[1] an American drag performer and recording artist best known as the runner-up on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race^[2][3]and the winner of the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.^[4]

Early life

Honard was raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Fort LeBoeuf High School in 2003.^[1][5] He studied theater at the University of Pittsburgh.^[6]

Career

2007–2012: Career beginnings

Thunderfuck at Dayton Pride in 2010

Alaska originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Dissatisfied with the auditioning process, she turned to drag and got a job at the West Hollywood club, Fubar.^[7] She frequently performed in the Trannyshack shows in Los Angeles.^[8] In 2009, she performed in Palm Springs Gay Pride with Tammie Brown and Jer Ber Jones.^[9]

Alaska met future boyfriend Sharon Needles (stage name of Aaron Coady) through Myspace in December 2009 and eventually moved back to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to live with him in 2010.^[5] Along with Needles and Cherri Baum, she formed the band Haus of Haunt, which later evolved into a drag troupe based out of the bar the Blue Moon. As part of the Haus of Haunt, she helped present the Pittsburgh debut of fellow drag queen and recording artist Christeene Vale in 2013. Alaska later impersonated Vale for the music video "RuPaulogize" by Willam Belli.^[10]

2013–2015: RuPaul's Drag Race

Alaska Thunderfuck competed on the fifth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, under the mononym Alaska.^[5][11] She had previously auditioned for every season of the show.^[7] Alaska won the fragrance commercial-themed main challenge in the episode "Scent of a Drag Queen" and the main challenge for "Sugar Ball."^[12][13] As part of the show, Alaska 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.^[14] At the season finale in May 2013, Alaska was declared the runner-up along with fellow competitor Roxxxy Andrews. Jinkx Monsoon was the winner of the season.

In October 2013, Alaska performed as Dr. Frank N. Furter in Woodlawn Theatre's production of The Rocky Horror Show in San Antonio, Texas. RuPaul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage and season four contestant Willam Belli also starred in the musical.^[15]

Since appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race, Alaska has toured and performed, appearing in RuPaul's Drag Race Battle of the Seasons shows, the Drag Stars at Sea cruises, custom one-woman shows such as a Stevie Nicks tribute called "Stevie Forever", a cabaret show called "Red for Filth", and a holiday show called "Blue Christmas".^[16][17] An animated version of Alaska appeared in the "RuPaul's Drag Race: Dragopolis 2.0" mobile app.^[18] During the summer of 2014, she starred in a stage production of Sex and the City.^[19] With brother Cory Binney, Honard has a web series sponsored by World of Wonder, called Bro'Laska.^[20] In 2014, Alaska became a spokesmodel for American Apparel alongside Willam Belli and Courtney Act.^[21]

Alaska has since released a string of singles, namely "Ru Girl", "Your Makeup Is Terrible", and "Nails". In June 2015, Alaska's debut album, Anus, was released to positive reviews. Singles from the album included "Hieeee" and "This is My Hair".^[22][23][24]

2016–present: RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2

In 2016, Alaska returned to Drag Race for the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.^[25] She received some backlash due to some of her choices of eliminations and her behavior toward the end of the competition. In response, Alaska donated $5,000 to the charity Trans Kids Purple Rainbow and posted an apology video online. In the season finale, she was crowned the second winner of All Stars.^[26][27][28]

On October 14, 2016, Alaska released her second album, titled Poundcake.^[29] Three singles from the album have been released: "The T",^[30] "Stun",^[31] "Puppet". The album is named after the puppet challenge on RuPaul's Drag Race where Alaska and fellow contestant Lineysha Sparx created a rebellious puppet called Lil' Poundcake.^[32]

Alaska competed in the first season of VH1's Scared Famous, which premiered on October 23, 2017, and placed 6th in the competition.^[33]

Since July 2018 she has hosted a podcast with fellow Drag Race alumna William Belli. The podcast, titled "Race Chaser" is "devoted to the discussion and dissection of every episode of Rupaul's Drag Race."^[34]

Public image and artistry

She has stated, "I am a huge fan of drag for many reasons; first and foremost being that it is an extremely important form of performance art. Drag uses humor as means of relaying a message, and because humor tends to get overlooked as a valid way to communicate through art, drag tends to get pigeonholed into being something "less than" when you think about it in terms what you’d see at a museum. I can’t think of almost anything more artistically redeeming than a huge museum full of drag queens, but maybe that's just me."^[35][36]

She has cited Gianni Versace, Lady Gaga and Marc Jacobs as her favorite fashion influences.^[37]Thought Catalog described her style as "risk-taking" and "creative", with "weird choices";^[38]Yahoo! called her Lil Poundcake outfit a "pink nightmare" and "clownish crazy", and "the drag and music world would certainly be very quiet without Ms Thunderfuck".^[39]

Billboard listed Thunderfuck the seventh-most-active drag queen on social media on its August 2015 Social 50 chart.^[40]

Honard's drag name is derived from Alaskan Thunderfuck, a strain of cannabis. Alaska counts Divine and Marilyn Monroe as her "role models".^[41]

Personal life

Alaska was in a relationship with fellow drag queen Sharon Needles for four years before separating in December 2013, though they remain on good terms.^[42][43]

Discography

Studio albums

• 
  Anus (2015)


• 
  Poundcake (2016)


• 
  Access All Areas (2017) (as The AAA Girls with Willam Belli and Courtney Act)


• 
  Amethyst Journey (2018) (as Alaska & Jeremy)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Tours

• 
  Access All Areas Tour (2017)^[64]
  


• An Evening with Alaska (2018)^{[citation needed]}
  

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Theatre

Music videos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alaska Thunderfuck.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Alaska Thunderfuck

• Official website


• 
  Justin Andrew Honard on IMDb