Kevin Aviance Is Still Glowing After Beyoncé Sampled Him on ‘Renaissance’: ‘It’s So Fierce for a Rich Black Billionaire Woman to Hold Up a Bunch of Queens’
Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Kevin Aviance never saw his career resurgence coming. The drag superstar singer of New York’s club scene in the ’80s and ’90s reemerged almost a year ago when Beyoncé sampled his 1996 dance hit, “Cunty,” on “Pure/Honey,” the fifteenth track on her album “Renaissance.” “Life is like upside down, turned around, flip it around back, and then back it up again right-side up,” Aviance says. “It’s been amazing.” Since being Beyoncé-certified, Aviance signed with a new management company and has had a steady flow of offers to perform and deejay. Aviance, who turned 55 on Thursday, said this new phase of his career hits differently than the success he had so many decades ago.