Jeffree Star (born Jeffrey Lynn Steininger Jr.;[3] November 15, 1985)[4] is an American entrepreneur and singer, and the founder and owner of Jeffree Star Cosmetics.
In 2009, Star released his first and only studio album, Beauty Killer, which included songs such as “Lollipop Luxury” featuring Nicki Minaj. He embarked on several world tours to promote his music. In 2010, he signed to Konvict Muzik — whose founder Akon described Star as “the next Lady Gaga”.[5] However, Star abruptly left the music industry in 2013 due to legal issues Akon was facing between 2007 and 2010.[6]
In November 2014, he founded the company Jeffree Star Cosmetics. In 2018, Star earned $18 million from his YouTube endeavors alone, according to Forbes. That was enough to make him the fifth-highest-paid YouTube star as of December 2018.[7] Early life
Star was born in Los Angeles County, California,[4] and raised in Orange County, California.[8] His father, Jeffrey L. Steininger,[9] committed suicide when Star was six years old and he was subsequently raised solely by his mother, Marra Shubyann Lindstrom Steininger.[10] As a child, Star alleges he began regularly experimenting with his mother’s makeup and convinced her to let him wear it to school when he was in junior high.[11] He moved to Los Angeles following his graduation from high school, supporting himself with various makeup, modeling and music jobs.[12][13] He later recalled spending his time on weekends using a fake ID to attend Hollywood clubs where celebrities would hire him for makeup work at their homes.[14]
Career
Star in July 2009
MySpace
Star used popular social networking website MySpace to further both his music as well as fashion design career.[18] He also used MySpace for blogging about his life, while making social commentary on “self-image and confidence,”[19][dead link] fame, beauty, and life. Star had built up a fan base on several websites but convinced many to join him on MySpace, giving his profile a large number of followers from the beginning. His MySpace photoshoots would frequently get over 50,000 comments when posted.[11] Star also gained fame as one of the most popular independent artists, with the daily rankings placing him in the top tier on MySpace.[20]
Music career
Star’s music career as an electronica and pop vocalist began when he befriended Peaches’ drummer Samantha Maloney, who encouraged him to make music.[11] During the summer of 2007, Star was advertised as a part of the True Colors Tour 2007,[21] which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada.[22] The tour, sponsored by the LGBT Logo channel, began on June 8, 2007, to coincide with Pride month.[22]
Star released his first and only studio album Beauty Killer in 2009, which peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart.[23] The album included songs such as “Lollipop Luxury” featuring Nicki Minaj. He embarked on several world tours to promote his music. In 2010, he signed to Konvict Muzik — whose founder Akon described Star as “the next Lady Gaga” — with plans to release a second album. However, it was never released and Star abruptly left the music industry in 2013 under unclear circumstances. He later described signing to Akon’s record label as “the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”[24]
He appeared in the second version of Kesha’s music video for her single “Take It Off” in 2010.[25] Star has worked with several other musical performers, including Blood on the Dance Floor, Deuce,[26] Millionaires,[27] and Larry Tee.[28]
Jeffree Star Cosmetics
Main article: Jeffree Star Cosmetics
In 2014, Star founded his e-commerce makeup brand, Jeffree Star Cosmetics.[29] In a five-part docuseries by Shane Dawson, Star stated that the end of his music career had left him essentially bankrupt, and that he had used his remaining savings to start his makeup brand.[30] Star began promoting the brand through videos published on YouTube, leading to the success of his YouTube channel, with 15 million subscribers and over 1.7 billion views as of June 2019.[31] Bustle magazine described Star as “a musician and onetime MySpace celeb that reinvented himself in the YouTube makeup tutorial space.”[32] His first cosmetics release was a collection of velour liquid lipsticks, which were followed by highlighter palettes, lip scrubs, eyeshadow palettes, clothing, and accessories, such as mirrors and make up bags. The first East Coast location to carry the cosmetics line was a Morphe Cosmetics store at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey on August 11, 2018.[33] Star has since launched several new collections, such as the “Blue Blood” eyeshadow palette,[34] which sold out within the day of its release in March 2019.[citation needed]
Controversies
Jeffree Star’s quarrels with other media personalities are well documented. These included conversations with tattoo artist Kat Von D, who accused Star of “drug use, racism, and bullying”;[35] Kylie Jenner, whose products were criticized negatively by Star;[36] Kim Kardashian;[36] and Jerrod Blandino, co-founder of Too Faced Cosmetics.[37][38]
Star was accused of racism due to derogatory remarks about minorities. He later apologized for the remarks.[39][40] A satirical skit between Star and a drag queen was posted on MySpace, in which Star states he wants to throw battery acid on a black woman to lighten her skin so it will match her foundation.[41] Star has used racial slurs on multiple occasions.[42]
