Kevin Aviance

Kevin Aviance (born Eric Snead on June 22, 1968 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American female impressionist, Club/Dance musician, and fashion designer. He is a very popular personality in New York City's gay scene and is a member of the "House of Aviance", a local gay performer's group. He is known for his trademark phrase, "Work. Fierce. Over. Aviance!"

Career

Kevin Aviance was raised in Richmond, Virginia, in a close-knit family with seven siblings. From a young age, Aviance dedicated himself to the study of music and theatre. Kevin’s career as a performance artist and club personality began in Washington DC, continued in Miami, and eventually landed him at the epicenter of the club and music scene: New York City. In 1989, the House of Aviance [http://www.houseofaviance.com] was founded in Washington DC by Mother Juan Aviance. The House of Aviance currently reigns the club scene in NYC with DJ's Drag-Queens, singers, dancers, actors, visual artists, performance artists, set designers etc., some of whom make appearances with him around the world.

He has appeared in several films, including "Flawless" starring Robert De Niro and the independent film "Punks". Besides his feature-film work he has made guest appearances on such shows as the "The Tyra Banks Show", and "America's Next Top Model", also hosted by Tyra Banks. His songs "Din Da Daa,", "Rhythm Is My Bitch", "Alive", "Give It Up" and "Strut", have all reached #1 of the Billboard dance chart. The only one of singles not to peak at #1 to date is "Dance For Love." Aviance's most successful dance radio hit to date is "Give It Up" released in 2004. His second album, "Entity" is a more consistent effort than his first but seems to be available online only.

Hate crime incident

On June 10, 2006 while exiting the "Phoenix", a popular gay bar located in the East Village, Manhattan, he was robbed and beaten by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. Four suspects were arrested under New York's hate-crime law, but reports say up to seven men were involved in the attack. [http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-06-11-singer-hate-crime_x.htm] Despite suffering a broken jaw, he insisted on appearing in the city's gay pride parade later that month. [http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/425696p-359070c.html]

On March 21, 2007 all four assailants pled guilty, receiving prison sentences ranging from 6 to 15 years in plea agreements that included hate crimes embellishments. The four young men, who range in age from 17 to 21 years old, had faced up to 25 years each for the attack, had they been found guilty in a trial. All had been charged with gang assault as a hate crime. [http://joemygod.blogspot.com/]

Recent times

Recently, Aviance appeared on the song "This is New York City (Bitch!)" by the transgender rap group, La'Mady from the album "Jonny McGovern Presents: This is NYC, Bitch! The East Village Mixtape". Aviance had moved to Minnesota to recover. [cite episode
title = Gay Pimpin' with Jonny McGovern
episodelink =
series =
serieslink =
airdate = 2008-01-14
season = 6
number = 1 ] In April 2008, Aviance both had a comeback to the club scene and entertainment world, and was reunited on stage with Junior Vasquez, who had previously worked together but had become estranged over a professional dispute. At Cielo, a club in NYC known for it's lighted walls, the tandem performance marked the return to the spotlight for Aviance, performing two of his new hit singles.

See also

* Violence against LGBT people

Albums

* Box of Chocolates 1999
* Entity 2004

Singles

* "Hold On me" with Tom Stephan & The S-Man
* "Din Da Da"
* "Rhythm Is My Bitch"
* "Dance For Love"
* "Alive"
* "Give It Up"
* "Strut"

References

See also

* Ball culture
* List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
* List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

External links

* [http://www.kevinavianceworld.com - Kevin Aviance's Web Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/kevinavianceworld - Kevin's Official Myspace]
*
* [http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_161223630.html News of the attack at www.wcbstv.com]
* [http://www.houseofaviance.com - House of Aviance]