It took me forever to get hold of Adore Delano. When she wasn't flying to various performances in various cities, she was out partying, or fast asleep on the other side of the world while I was waking up in a time zone eight hours ahead. Finally, over a long weekend here in the UK, my phone rings and on the other end is a familiar slow Cali drawl. "Hi... it's Adore Delano," she says, before telling me how she's sitting in the departure lounge of an airport sipping a bloody Mary.

Would you say she inspires your drag style as well? Oh, absolutely. I could go on about how many people have created 'Adore', but Courtney's definitely always been one of the main ones. But also her attitude, her lyrics… as a musician I think she's a lyrical genius; I really love the way she puts words together. She's just an asshole, I love her.

Noisey: Let's start with Courtney Love. She's actually one of my absolute favourites too! Adore Delano: I was speaking about this to RuPaul the other day. I love how she takes what other people think about her and then just owns it. I think that was really empowering to watch as a little kid and I've loved her ever since. It's this idea of not caring that I'm drawn to, and this idea that you can do anything. I really love that as a human quality.

Since then, she's released three albums, the last of which is called Whatever and basically sounds like Courtney Love and Britney Spears if they'd had a lovechild and raised it on stage in Vegas. All of which is to say: behind every great drag queen are a long line of pop cultural icons. To that end, I asked Adore to pick five women who have inspired her the most, and then we had a chat about them.

By now, you're surely well aware of RuPaul's Drag Race because it has become a kind of reality TV empire and cultural behemoth (if not, nick your mate's Netflix password and power that shit up immediately, then we'll talk). Adore Delano appeared on both season 6 and All Stars season 2, and was easily one of the show's brightest stars. For starters, she can sing – really sing (she was a contestant on American Idol as a teenager and her performance in 'Shade: The Rusical' is nothing short of iconic ). She also gained a dedicated young fanbase for her deadpan one liners – "I'm a fuckin' Libra" – as well as her inimitable drag style, which looks a bit like someone popped a handful of Xanax before falling through a thrift store backwards en route to a Hollywood strip club. In other words: she's cool as fuck.

Have you met her before?

I haven't, but she's come onto my live chats on Instagram before which is so cool and I was freaking out, man.

What would you say to her if you met her?

I grew up in the LA scene or whatever, so I've always tried to stay away from celebrities because they scare the shit out of me, but she's definitely somebody I'd go up to in the market and be like "Babes, just wanted to say hi. You're cool as fuck. Bye."

AMY WINEHOUSE

So let's chat about Amy Winehouse. What is it about her that you love?

My mum and I were just talking about this. I was at a drag convention in the UK yesterday and everyone was like, "oh my god, you remind me so much of Amy Winehouse" but I'm like, "it's because it's intentional, I promise you." I fuck with these girls for a reason, and she's definitely a musical influence as well – especially her vocal runs. She came out at a really cool time in my life and to see somebody that different, and somebody who really didn't give a fuck, during that decade in particular, really inspired me as a teenager.

Yeah, she's one of our most recent real 'icons'. It feels like just yesterday she was around, releasing albums.

I always say that too. It's so sad. You don't usually find those people in the last 20 years.

What's one of your favourite songs of hers?

I love "Back to Black", I love "Tears Dry on Their Own", and I loved the whole of The Lioness because it was so raw and it felt like another layer of her beauty. But really… I love anything she's ever written, in the same way I love early Courtney. It's genius shit. She's a true lyricist.

JANIS JOPLIN

All the other people you chose I'm also obsessed with, but I never got into Janis Joplin in the same way. What is it about her that's so cool?

I feel like I picked these girls who are kind of similar within their decades. She's a musician first and foremost, but the way she looks comes after that. She wasn't conventionally beautiful, she didn't do whatever other girls did, she had masculine tendencies, she loved women, she loved men, she was stunning. Her story is inspiring as well… it's like she just felt in her soul that she had something in her, and she picked up and went to San Francisco and never looked back.