Jeffrey Lynn Steininger
(born November 15, 1985), known by his stage name Jeffree Star
, is an American model, fashion designer, make-up artist, DJ, and singer-songwriter residing in the Los Angeles area. [1] [2] He is an Internet celebrity known for his popularity on MySpace as well as his fashion line and from his transgressive, genderfuck and gender-bending appearance and persona while calling himself "Queen of the Internet" and "Queen of the Beautifuls". [3] [4] [5] [6] Star has leveraged his fame as an androgynous model and aesthetic talents to launch his own clothing line and forays into acting and DJing.
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JEFFREE STAR TICKETS
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Early life
Star was born in
Orange County,
California. Star recalls that he "discovered that he was
gay in his early childhood".
His father died in his childhood thus Star was left alone while his working
model mother went on assignments. He began experimenting with his mother's
makeup at a young age, leading to an
obsessive compulsive interest,
and convinced his mom to let him wear make-up to school when he was in
junior high.
Club scene
Star's
make-up artist career was started at age fifteen as an "
underage gender-bending
club kid" wearing make-up, dying his hair in
day-glo colors and
cross dressing which in turn lead to receiving large amounts of attention from people both in and out of school.
Star's popularity came from wearing women's clothing and accessories in
high school.
Star recalls that his
obsessive compulsive disorder as a child pushed him into wearing his mother's
makeup and clothes.
[7]
On weekends, Star recounts using a "fake
ID to attend
Hollywood clubs dressed in
mini dresses and nine inch
high heels where
celebrities would contract him for make-up work at their homes", or "hiring [Star] as a model."
He reports that his weekend partying at clubs and the make-up advice he gave was the foundation to his
modeling career.
Make-up, modeling, and Internet fame
Star was referred to celebrities including
Kelly Osbourne,
Nicole Richie,
Paris Hilton,
AFI frontman
Davey Havok and
Jessicka from the band
Scarling. [8]
Star gained a
cult following from posting outrageous photographs of himself on
Internet forums and later
MySpace, who began sending him gifts including expensive cameras to take more pictures.
On August 1, 2006,
Los Angeles'
LGBT magazine Frontiers
featured Star on its cover.
On November 17, 2006 Star and several contestants from "
America's Next Top Model" were a part of
Black Chandelier's "Fall 2006 Runway Show" at
Salt Lake City's Union Pacific Depot. Star was also a guest on "
America's Next Top Model, Cycle 7".
On March 16, 2007, Star was one of the featured
runway models for BOXeight's production of
designer Jared Gold’s
flamboyant "Quiet Army show", regarded as "the wildest front row in all of
Fashion Week." The shows 2007 theme was "
Mormon chic", effectively using the
Los Angeles Theater as a backdrop during L.A. Fashion Week.
[9] He has appeared in several music videos including
Good Charlotte's "
The River"
[10],
Godhead's "Push", and
Aiden's "
One Love"
. Most recently, he appeared in the video for
Metro Station's "
Shake It".
[11]
MySpace celebrity
Jeffree Star used popular
social networking website
MySpace to further both his music as well as fashion design career. Star also used MySpace for blogging about his life while making social commentary on "self-image and confidence",
fame, beauty and life. Using the nickname of "cunt" while using "cyanide-laced wit" in his online rants
to attract attention, Star had built up a fan base on several websites but convinced many to join him on
MySpace, giving his MySpace profile a large number of "friends" from the beginning.
His MySpace friend base has since grown to over 1,006,600 as of July 2009
[12] with each new
photo shoot getting over 50,000 comments when posted
, and by November 2006, he was recognized as
MySpace's most connected profile personality.
[13]
Star has also gained fame as one of the most popular
unsigned artists with the daily rankings placing him in the top tier
on MySpace.
Buzznet.com video-blogging
On March 28, 2007 at
Project Runway's
Jeffrey Sebelia fashion show Star was a front row "
celebutante" where he revealed details of
Buzznet.com’s “
Queen Needs a Princess Contest” which had "a day of femme-licious fun with Star" as the grand prize.
The
social-networking, music-news site specializes in new-media (integrated
photoblog and
videoblog capabilities) which Star has capitalized on to dovetail his modeling and music interests.
[14] Stars'
social trendsetting participation at Buzznet and his success at growing online fan-base was noted in Buzznet's six million financing in May 2007.
[15] Star regularly uploads video-blog segments including music reviews, event reports as well as posting news about his upcoming music release.
Music career
Plastic Surgery Slumber Party
2006-2007
Star's music career as an
electronica and
hip-hop vocalist began when he befriended
Peaches' drummer who encouraged him to make music.
Star was then asked by
Hollywood Undead to rap on their song "Turn off the Lights" for their
debut album.
[16] However, the track did not make it onto the disc.
His first two solo tracks "We Want Cunt", named in tribute to his former screen name
Cunt: Queen of the Beautifuls
, and "Straight Boys" were co-written with
Hole and one time
Mötley Crüe drummer,
Samantha Maloney and singer
Jessicka from
Scarling..
[17] Star asked MySpace co-founder
Tom to convert his MySpace profile into a music page so he could showcase his music.
On November 1, 2006 Star performed on the same bill as Los Angeles'
Dirty Sanchez at the LA bar Key Club’s post-
Halloween show.
[18] Star has toured with
electro musician
Peaches [19], as well as
Cyndi Lauper,
Metro Station [20],
Breathe Carolina [21],
Dr. Manhattan,
Schoolyard Heroes [22], and Ultraviolet Sound.
On the 13 March, 2007, Star released his debut
extended play Plastic Surgery Slumber Party
which was produced by Ultraviolet Sound.
[23]. The record topped at number one on the
iTunes’s dance charts and "has consistently topped the iTunes
dance charts at #1, hovering high above household names such as
Justin Timberlake and
Cascada."
[24] [25] Separately, Star's MySpace page has 25 million listens to
Plastic Surgery Slumber Party
as of July 2007.
[26]
During the summer of 2007, Star was advertised as a part of the
True Colors Tour 2007,
[27] which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada.
[28] The tour, sponsored by the
LGBT Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007 to coincide with
Pride month.
[29] Profits from the tour benefited the
Human Rights Campaign as well as
PFLAG and The
Matthew Shepard Foundation. Though he was advertised as a special guest to perform on several
West Coast dates, Star did not appear. )
Star's song "Plastic Surgery Slumber Party" appeared on the August 2007
Tommy Boy release of Cyndi Lauper's
True Colors
tour compilation. Featuring ten tracks from ten of the artists, the compilation benefits the
Human Rights Campaign, an organization that fights for civil rights for
LGBT people.
Cupcakes Taste Like Violence
2008-2009
Prior to the release of his second extended play, Star released his debut single "
Heart Surgery Isn't That Bad" on
Valentine's Day, 2008, followed by its
b-side, "
I Hate Music", on April 17, 2008.
[30] Star later recorded and released "
Starstruck" featuring
Danger Radio - his first single available for free download as a "thank you" to fans.
[31] [32] Trace Cyrus and Mason Musso from
Metro Station [33] originally provided vocals for the song, however, due to a feud between the band and Star
[34] [35], they were ultimately replaced with
Andrew de Torres from
Danger Radio.
Cupcakes Taste Like Violence
, Star's sophomore extended play, was released on December 9, 2008.
[36] This is his first record to be available as a
CD as well as digitial download.
This is also Star's debut record to be released under
Popsicle Records through
Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group. Star said the extended play "remindes me of myself. I may look sweet, but I'm really scary and violent on the inside."
[37] Cupcakes Taste Like Violence
peaked at number six on the
Billboard Top Electronic Albums
[38] and at number eight on the Billboard Top Heatseekers.
[39] "
Lollipop Luxury" was the first single from the extended play released November 18, 2008.
Beauty Killer
and Untitled third extended play 2009-present
Star's debut
studio album,
Beauty Killer
, is set to be released on September 22, 2009.
[40] The first single from the album, "
Prisoner", was released for
digital download on May 2, 2009.
[41] The track received two million plays on MySpace at the end of its second week being available for stream. "
Love Rhymes With Fuck You" was the second single from the album; like "Prisoner", it was also released for
digital download on June 30, 2009.
[42]
It was announced that recording was underway for Star's first
studio album in late 2007.
[43] He stated that the new songs "are more sexy, some are more "guy"ish and some are me screaming my heart out. I'm still finding what "Jeffree Star" really is. And I think I'm almost there..."
[44] To "tide fans over" until the first single from the album was released, on April 21, 2009, Star released a remix cover of
Black Eyed Peas' "
Boom Boom Pow" which was made available for free download.
[45]
He has been working with producers such as
Lester Mendez,
3OH!3's Nathaniel Motte and
Luke Walker. Star performed at
Warped Tour 2009 to promote some of the music from his upcoming album.
[46]
Star announced on his
Twitter that he will be releasing his
third extended play, along with a b-side called "Blush", in Fall 2009.
[47]
Discography
;Studio albums
;EPs
- 2007: Plastic Surgery Slumber Party
- 2008: Cupcakes Taste like Violence
Filmography
Television guest appearances
|
Year
| Title
| Role
| Notes
|
2007
| Video on Trial
| Himself
| Guest judge (episode 20, season 2)
|
LA Ink
| Himself
| "Kat's in Love" (episode 10, season 1)
|
Reality show development
It was reported in 2007 that Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato's World of Wonders Productions would be developing a
reality show featuring Star
[48] and promise of "glamour and sexual tension."
Star was also reported to be in talks with
E! to carry the show.
[49] However, in June 2009, when asked in an interview with OrangeCounty.com "When's the reality show coming?" Star said:
“
| I've [had] some big meetings with MTV but I'm trying to decided which route I want to take. I don't want to do a dating show, some Bret Michaels, "Daisy of Love" crap. I don't wanna have to fake it. I'm pitching the idea about doing a show about my family because they're all really insane. They're ready for the world to see how stupid they are. I'm the normal one and they're all psycho.
| ”
|
Merchandise
Star's
T-shirts,
hoodies and accessories were ranked #1 on Hottopic.com. He is also developing a
fragrance called "Fierce", which he says will smell like "vanilla and cotton candy."
See also
- Celebutante
- Famous for being famous
- Queercore
- Video on Trial
References
- MySpace continues to expedite music careers
- Jeffree Star Tickets
- Weiner, Jonah (April 11, 2006)."Tila Tequila for President". Slate.com. Retrieved July 29, 2006.
- Jeffree Star: The Fairest One of All
- Jeffree Star: Electro / Pop / Rap
- The Future is Jeffree Star: Inside the cult-like following of the Internet's most popular queer icon
- Jeffree Star's MySpace profile
- Jeffree Star - Queen of the Beautifuls
- L.A. Fashion Week Smackdown
- YouTube - The River - Good Charlotte
- YouTube - Metro Station - Shake It
- Jeffree Star: Electro / Pop
- Market News Publishing. (November 1, 2006) ''Kicks Off Retail Revolution.''
- In the Kodak, in the Pink
- Buzznet Lands $6 Million Round of Financing Led By Redpoint Ventures and Anthem Venture Partners Same Venture Capital Firm That Pioneered MySpace Backs Leading Next Generation Social Media Company
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S_ST6NPKkw
- The Future is Jeffree Star: Inside the cult-like following of the Internet's most popular queer icon
- Dirty Sanchez: Local bands, man
- Rock Picks For the week of December 14 – 21
- YouTube - Metro Station and Jeffree Star
- Breathe Carolina Go From Jeffree Star Openers To Record Deal at The Insider
- MY SPRING TOUR.. & WARPED TOUR DATES! so excited!!!! - Buzznet
- MySpace.com - ULTRAVIOLET SOUND (@ Rockin Roots Fest TONIGHT!! ) - los angeles - Electrique / Pop Punk / New Wave - www.myspace.com/ultravioletsound
- MySpace continues to expedite music careers
- Jeffree Star: The Fairest One of All
- Jeffree Star: Electro / Pop
- Britney to Join Cyndi Lauper's Tour for Surprise Show
- True Colors: Special Guests
- Cyndi Lauper Releases 'True Colors' Comp
- [1]
- MPFree: Jeffree Star 'Starstruck'
- purevolume | We're Listening To You > JEFFREE STAR > NEW TRACK POSTED!!!!
- YouTube - Jeffree Star Interview
- Perezhilton.com - Miley's Brother Is Tranny Hating?! And He's A Druggie Too -
- YouTube - EXCLUSIVE: Trace Cyrus From Metro Station Responds To Jeffree Star
- Amazon.com Cupcakes Taste Like Violence
Jeffree Star
- MTV Buzzworthy Blog >> Jeffree Star, On Recording 'Cupcakes Taste like Violence' In Nothing But Heels
- http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=322&cfgn=Albums&cfn=Top+Electronic+Albu
- http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=324&cfgn=Albums&cfn=Top+Heatseekers&ci=
- Jeffree Star Beauty Killer Out Sept. 22nd
- Jeffree Star to release debut “Beauty Killer” this summer
- Jeffree Star announces his second single from 'Beauty Killer'.
- Jeffree Star's Recording a New Album -- 2 New Song Titles So Far
- the road to PRISONER.
- JEFFREE STAR TAKES NO PRISONERS
- Vans Warped Tour 2009
- Star announces third extended play
- Tuning In
- Entertainment: Orange Pop: The unstoppable Jeffree Star
- Skye Fadrosko,Kelli (26 June 2009). "Interview: Jeffree Star gets Warped", OrangeCounty.com. Retrieved 2009-07-22.