Night Fever guest · Season 1, Episode 10
Joey Arias
The cabaret shapeshifter who channels Billie Holiday.
Timeline
Late 1970s
Emerges in New York's punk and downtown performance scene.
1979–83
Performs alongside Klaus Nomi, with David Bowie and the Basquiat circle close by.
1990s–2000s
Builds a decades-long cabaret career channelling Billie Holiday, from New York to Las Vegas.
2025
Profiled by NPR - "I want to live to be at least 200 years old" - while still touring summer cabaret shows.
What they are doing now
Performing regularly, including Provincetown summer seasons. The current drag generation treats him like royalty!
Scenes & rooms
Connected to
In the episodes
9 mentions across all episodes - S1E2 1 · S1E7 2 · S2E3 2 · S3E6 1 · S4E10 2 · S6E3 1
- S1E2 · Michael Musto · 1 mention in this episode
Club 57 star. Links to his Night Fever episode
FashionDrag and cabaret style icon
- S2E3 · Susanne Bartsch · 2 mentions in this episode
As told on the show, he helped pull Lady Hennessy's stocking all the way into a snowy Japanese town square. Links to his Night Fever episode
FashionPerformer known for his looks
- S3E6 · Eric Goode · 1 mention in this episode
Eric says he couldn't get a job from Fiorucci or Joey Arias. Links to his Night Fever episode
FashionFiorucci shop star and performer
- S1E7 · Rudolf Piper · 2 mentions in this episode
Named by Rudolf among Fiorucci's shop staff, and as Ann Magnuson's stage partner at Danceteria
- S6E3 · Chi Chi Valenti & Johnny Dynell · 1 mention in this episode
Also at that Stevie Nicks concert, a Stevie fan from the downtown drag scene
- S4E10 · Ann Magnuson · 2 mentions in this episode
James recalls Ann performing with him at Danceteria, and says he has talked about her on the show
FashionCabaret glamour
On the scene timeline
October 1978 · 77 White Street
The Mudd Club opens downtown
Steve Mass's Tribeca answer to Studio 54: art-damaged, cheap and open late. Basquiat is in the crowd, Klaus Nomi is on the stage.
15 December 1979 · Saturday Night Live, NBC
Bowie sings on Saturday Night Live with Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias
Three songs, three costumes, one pink poodle. The most famous crossover between downtown performance art and network television.
1981 · 101 Avenue A
The Pyramid Club redefines drag
Avenue A's tiny bar turns drag from lip-sync glamour into punk performance art, and launches the careers that become Wigstock.
Labor Day 1984 · Tompkins Square Park
The first Wigstock in Tompkins Square Park
A hungover afterthought by Lady Bunny and friends becomes the outdoor drag festival that runs for decades.
1993 · New York
RuPaul's Supermodel (You Better Work) charts
The Pyramid Club's own goes from Wigstock stages to the Billboard charts, and World of Wonder starts filming.
2003 · New York-New York, Las Vegas
Joey Arias joins Zumanity in Las Vegas
Cirque du Soleil's adult show makes downtown cabaret a nightly Strip fixture for four years.
2 February 2009 · Logo TV
RuPaul's Drag Race premieres
World of Wonder turns everything the Pyramid Club invented into a global television format. Michelle Visage joins the panel in season three.
2021 · World of Wonder, Los Angeles
Night Fever starts recording the survivors
World of Wonder's podcast sits the scene's originals down one by one, and they keep naming each other.