Petruschin was born in Victorville, California, U.S. as the first of five children. Being of Russian ancestry, his mother, who separated with his father when Petruschin was seven years old, raised him a Mormon. However, he has since publicly distanced himself from the religious tradition.
Career
Origins
At the beginning of his career, Petruschin worked as a cosmetics salesperson and a freelance make-up artist during the day, and at night performed in nightclubs as a go-go boy under the name "Phoenix". He started performing in drag in 2002, changing his moniker to Raven. He recalls the exact date to be the tenth of May, where he and Mayhem Miller performed for the very first time. Unlike many other drag queens, Petruschin learned drag without a drag mother to act as a mentor. As Raven, Petruschin auditioned to compete on the first and second seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race.
''RuPaul's Drag Race''
In 2010, it was announced that Raven would be a contestant on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race. In the first episode, he won the season's first mini-challenge, a photo shoot. In the second and third episode he landed in the bottom two, having to "lip-sync for his life" twice in order to stay in the competition. He won both lipsyncs. Raven won a second mini-challenge in the fourth episode by guessing the price of various objects, earning him a phone call home; and a third mini-challenge in the fifth episode by successfully decorating a box to reflect his personal style. He won the seventh and eighth main challenges, which involved creating and promoting an autobiography, and giving an older gentleman a makeover, respectively. At the end of the competition, he ultimately placed second behind Tyra Sanchez due to Sanchez's superior record and ability to dance circles around him in the final lip sync.
''RuPaul's Drag U''
Raven was one of many Drag Race alumni who were invited to act as a drag professor in the spin-off series RuPaul's Drag U, which has screened three seasons. Raven serves as a "drag professor" and mentor to female contestants who are given make-overs. In the series, his persona is not portrayed in a villainous fashion, but instead as a softer and nurturing mentor. Raven made a total of twelve appearances and collected the most wins during the series' run, being dubbed the "Makeover Queen". In an episode of the second season he gave his mother Deshawna a makeover, helping her win against the sisters of Jujubee and Manila Luzon.
''RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars''
On August 6, 2012, it was announced that Raven was one of twelve past Drag Race contestants selected to join the cast of that premiered on the Logo network on October 22, 2012. Prior to the airing of the season finale, Raven appeared in a television commercial for travel websiteOrbitz's new portal for LGBT leisure travel. He was paired with contestant and best friend Jujubee to form Team Rujubee. They won the mini-challenges in the second and fifth episode by correctly answering questions about each other in the style of The Newlywed Game and by scoring more points in a game of basketball, which won them a call to their loved ones. The duo managed to make it to the finals, which aired on November 26, 2012, where Raven again landed as a runner-up, this time to winner Chad Michaels.
Featured in a commercial promoting the syndication run of the cable television series Nip/Tuck on the Logo network, Raven lip synced to the theme song "A Perfect Lie" as he caresses a syringe close to his lips. The commercial is based on one of his past drag performances. He also has made a guest appearance in an episode of Logo's reality series, Pretty Hurts, which documents the life and career of celebrity medical aesthetician Rand Rusher. Raven was also featured on an episode of America's Next Top Model, Cycle 8, in which he participated in a photo shoot with each of the show's contestants in male drag and paired with a drag queen. Raven made a cameo in the 2011 music video for "Diamond Crowned Queen" by RuPaul's Drag Race season three winner Raja. His cameo was praised by critics, who named him the "magnificent Raven". In 2012, along with other RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, he appeared in another music video, "Queen" by Mimi Imfurst's band Xelle. He also starred in the music video "Feed Me Diamonds" by MNDR. In spring 2014, Raven and Raja started a weekly YouTube fashion critique show on World of Wonder's channel called "RuPaul's Drag Race Fashion Photo RuView", where they "toot" or "boot" fashion from mostly Drag Race alumni. Every episode gets viewed between 400.000 and one million times. He has appeared on multiple other WOW shows as well. Besides international touring, Raven currently hosts several drag-related events at gay clubs throughout Southern California.
Legacy
In 2016, Raven was included as an inspiration in Vanity Fair's "100 Years of Drag Fashion" video, alongside iconic drag performers Divine, David Bowie, and RuPaul. The video presented his style as the epitome of 2000s-era drag. He won the "Best Lips AKA The Pucker Up Award" at the first WOWie Awards in 2017. RuPaul's Drag Race season six winner Bianca Del Rio has also stated that many young drag queens use Raven's style.
