Billy Porter

Having mastered singing, acting, songwriting, playwriting, and directing, Billy Porter channels the versatility of classic all-around entertainers by excelling across stage, screen, and recordings. His Broadway-honed phrasing and rich vocal timbre placed him on Billboard’s R&B and dance listings, beginning with the 1997 single “Love Is on the Way” from his self-titled debut, while his portrayal of Lola in the 2013 musical Kinky Boots earned a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. In 2019 he became the first openly gay Black man to receive a lead-actor Emmy, winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for embodying Pray Tell, the emcee and mentor in the FX series Pose that chronicles New York’s ballroom culture; that visibility led to his casting as the Fabulous Godmother in the 2021 live-action Cinderella. During the same period he issued the uplifting dance tracks “Love Yourself” in 2019 and “Children” in 2021, the latter later featured on his 2023 album Black Mona Lisa.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 21, 1969, Porter methodically built his foundation by completing the musical-theater curriculum at the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School, earning a B.F.A. in drama from Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts, and obtaining a screenwriting certificate from UCLA. Public recognition arrived through 1990s Broadway appearances that began with the 1994 revival of Grease and continued with Songs for a New World, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and Miss Saigon, alongside additional stage work. Concurrently he took film roles in Twisted (1996) and the 1999 television movie Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story, in which he portrayed Little Richard. His first album, Billy Porter (also issued as Untitled), arrived in 1997; its singles “Love Is on the Way” and “Show Me” reached the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and the former had already appeared on the soundtrack to The First Wives Club.

Into the 2000s Porter sustained momentum with parts on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit while releasing the 2005 live album At the Corner of Broadway + Soul through Sh-K-Boom Records. Broadway and off-Broadway engagements in the 2010s encompassed Little Shop of Horrors and Angels in America, culminating in his Tony-winning turn as Lola in Kinky Boots and its original-cast recording. The 2014 studio album Billy’s Back on Broadway appeared on Concord Records; two years later he curated Billy Porter Presents: The Soul of Richard Rodgers for Sony Masterworks, enlisting India.Arie, Pentatonix, and Leslie Odom, Jr. Pose debuted on FX in June 2018 with Porter as the drag-ball host and community figure Pray Tell.

The D. Smith-produced “Love Yourself” topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in 2019. By the conclusion of Pose’s three-season run in June 2021, Porter had added guest appearances on American Horror Story, The Simpsons, and the Twilight Zone reboot, plus film roles in Like a Boss and Cinderella alongside Camila Cabello and Idina Menzel. Three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Pose yielded one win, marking another historic first. Late in 2021 the disco-driven empowerment track “Children” reached the Top 30 of the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart. Black Mona Lisa, his 2023 full-length excursion into club and disco sounds, included a revised “Children” featuring Lady Blackbird.