The Vivienne to be honoured with life-sized statue in Liverpool’s Pride Quarter
Drag Race icon The Vivienne died in January 2025. (Getty)
Liverpool is set to honour the late drag queen The Vivienne with a life-sized statue erected in the city’s Pride Quarter.
The statue of the RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner will stand at the junction of Victoria Street and Stanley Street, which marks the entrance to Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ district, Attitude reports.
The Pride Quarter held particular significance to The Vivienne, also known as James Lee Williams, as it was the setting for the beginning of their drag career. They starred in shows at Pink, Garlands and Superstar Boudoir before taking their art form further afield.
The statue project is being led by House of Vivienne CIC, which was established by the star’s family and LGBTQ+ platform Proudly Said following Williams’ tragic death in 2025.
Liverpool Business Improvement District provided initial funding to help the project get off the ground, but a further £100,000 is needed to commission and install the statue. Community fundraising efforts are expected to make up the rest of the costs.
The statue is intended to be a permanent “guardian angel” for the Pride Quarter, Attitude reported. It has also been designed to be “a welcoming focal point around which people can gather, sit and, fittingly, have a catch-up with The Vivienne.”
Chanel Williams, the late star’s sister and a director for House of The Vivienne CIC, said: “James gave everything to Liverpool and Liverpool gave everything back to him. This city saw him, accepted him, and helped him become The Vivienne.”
She continued: “A permanent statue in the Pride Quarter feels like the right way to make sure nobody forgets that, and to remind anyone who might be struggling that they do not have to do it alone. That was what James believed, and it is what we are going to keep saying.”
Proudly Said’s John Hyland, who is leading the statue’s organisation, said that it will be both a celebration of life and a statement on Liverpool’s queer community.
“The Vivienne was the Pride Quarter, and James had a way of making everyone who walked through any one of those doors feel like they belonged. That didn’t stop when the cameras arrived and their star shot into the sky,” said Hyland.
“This statue is Liverpool acknowledging what the LGBTQ+ community already knows. But it’s also the beginning of something bigger. The Pride Quarter deserves investment, attention and a future, and this is the first statement of intent that it’s going to get both.”
The Vivienne, who had been open about her struggles with drug addiction during her time on Drag Race, was found dead in her Cheshire home in January 2025 after suffering cardio-respiratory arrest due to ketamine use.
