15 iconic stories to celebrate 'RuPaul's Drag Race's 15th anniversary

‘Drag Race’ turns 15!

The first-ever episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 1 premiered on February 2, 2009 — exactly 15 years from today. The show, which first premiered on Logo TV, evolved over the years, snatched trophies, and moved to bigger Paramount-owned sister networks like VH1 and MTV, which is where season 16 currently airs.

Besides its flagship series, this franchise has created spinoffs like RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, RuPaul’s Drag U, RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race, and the accompanying series Untucked. International versions of the show have also taken off in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Thailand, Spain, Brazil, the Philippines, Mexico, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand, to name a few.

In celebration of this 15th anniversary, Drag Race shared a video featuring its original crowned queen, BeBe Zahara Benet, who delivered a beautiful message about the series. “Happy, happy 15th anniversary to RuPaul’s Drag Race, and here’s to 15, and more 15, and more 15 more years!”

Scroll through to check out some of our favorite RuPaul’s Drag Race stories published across equalpride publications like PRIDE, Out, and The Advocate in celebration of the series’ 15th anniversary — and tune in to watch new episodes of season 16 every Friday on MTV.