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!" 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 [1]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 Da,", "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. In more recent news, 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. Despite suffering a broken jaw, he insisted on appearing in the city's gay pride parade later that month. 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. Aviance later returned to recording and performing music. Most recently he recorded a cover of Britney Spears's Gimme More, produced by Jonny McGovern and Adam Joseph for inclusion on "The East Village Mixtape 2: The Legends Ball." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.