Drag Race star Chi Chi Devine dies at age 34

Drag Race star Chi Chi Devine dies at age 34

Our hearts break upon the news - Chi Chi Devine, he became a villain at the age of 34

Our hearts break upon the news - Chi Chi Devine, he became a villain at the age of 34. It's an untold tragedy for fans of RuPaul's Drag Race, the gay community at large, and quite frankly, all of humanity. Chi Chi DeVayne's spirit - equally fickle and optimistic about her famous career in Season 8 of the Emmy Award-winning show - made her a fan favorite.

Millions of DeVayne fans, and the entire RuPaul's Drag Race community, spent all summer gathering around the digitally beloved Queen of Bayou, sending her thoughts, prayers, and advice when she needed her most. DeVayne was first hospitalized earlier this summer with kidney failure, and then entered again in the past few weeks as she was diagnosed with pneumonia. Undoubtedly, all of this was exacerbated by Devine’s recent diagnosis of scleroderma, a chronic disease that causes dense tissue to form around her internal organs.

But DeVayne's legacy cannot and will not be defined by the nightmare of 2020 - even if DeVayne Hospital's Instagram updates are, of course, uniquely inspiring and entertaining. DeVayne can do nothing less than entertain and inspire; It was natural, innate like breathing or being interrupted on stage. This is the queen who transforms a wardrobe malfunction while lip-synching, a torn pearl necklace, into a seemingly intentional series of emotions transporting from the floor full of pearls to the sky.

Chi Chi DeVayne didn't win the eighth season, nor did she win the first 3 Stars, but she did get a different kind of crown. She was awarded her crown by fans, and we were stunned by all the diamonds DeVayne gave us in every episode of TV that she appeared in.

 The moments of lip-synching, her upside-down turn, her famous phrase ("stupid city"), and the unparalleled happiness of meeting Vanessa Williams ("Eraser, Baby!") - these are the jewels she gave us. Those are the jewels on the Eternal Crown of Chi Chi Divine.

We love it. We'll always love it. It will be, forever, exactly what RuPaul's Drag Race is about - a rookie from the middle of nowhere who enters a contest dressed in real garbage and turns it into a treasure, proving that money and privilege cannot buy real and true grace, talent, and confidence. This is the Chi Chi Divine legacy, and nothing - neither pneumonia, nor scleroderma - can tarnish.