Who the fuck is Drew G?

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DJ • Producer • Creator of Dirty Pop • Emotional Support Daddy

Drew G is a pioneer of modern queer nightlife—an artist who didn’t just chase his dreams but built an entire movement around them. Known globally for his signature Dirty Pop sound, Drew blends pop, tech house, EDM, and mashups into sets that are emotional, unexpected, and completely his own. In a scene often defined by conformity, Drew is the exception: original, enduring, and unapologetically authentic.

He’s the #1 top gay club DJ in the world—not circuit, club. With 22+ consistent years behind the decks, Drew has played nearly every weekend since 2003 without a break. Dirty Pop, his signature party and sound, is the longest-running consistent pop party in the world, the longest-running non-circuit international gay event, and the longest-running party in San Diego, period. Not once has it paused—not even for vacations.

Drew got his start playing guitar in death metal bands and committed to music at age 13 after meeting Eddie Van Halen, who told him: “If you truly want to be a legend, you can’t just be great—you have to create your own sound and change the game.” That advice eventually led to the creation of Dirty Pop, and to a DJ career that exploded across queer venues and global stages.

Over the years, Drew has become a Pride mainstage staple, performing at some of the biggest LGBTQ+ festivals across the globe. He has DJed for Vacaya in the past and is currently a resident DJ for the Big Gay Cruise, cementing his place as one of the most in-demand names on both land and sea. His Pride résumé spans San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, Toronto, Phoenix, Austin, Nashville, and Wellington, with standout moments such as being personally introduced by Dame Patsy Reddy, the Governor-General of New Zealand. He has headlined Sydney Mardi Gras fourteen times, played two World Prides, and delivered unforgettable sets for audiences of tens of thousands. Stateside, he’s rocked massive events including White Party (Miami and Palm Springs), One Magical Weekend, and Pensacola Memorial Day Weekend, alongside countless other cornerstone festivals that define queer culture. Internationally, he has toured through Bogotá, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and Seoul, and made history with a headlining set at Kitty Su in India—the year it was named the #1 club in the world.

His career outside the festival circuit is just as stacked. Drew has been featured in Vogue Magazine (2025), appeared on The Ricki Lake Show, and became a resident DJ for the San Diego Padres at home games, bringing queer visibility and big-room energy to Major League Baseball. He DJed an inaugural ball for President Obama and has also represented global fashion houses as a brand DJ for John Varvatos and Guess Jeans, touring internationally across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He is known for holding down residencies in nearly every major gay nightlife hub, from New York City to Los Angeles, San Diego, Fire Island Pines, Seattle, Houston, Las Vegas, Puerto Vallarta, Asbury Park, and Nice, France. A career-defining achievement remains his twelve-year run with Dirty Pop at Rich’s San Diego, which cemented the event as a West Coast institution. Today, Drew lives in downtown Dallas with his infamous French bulldog Pooh and maintains a residency at Dallas Eagle, where he can be heard multiple times each month—unless he’s on the road headlining internationally.

A true innovator, Drew was also the first DJ to introduce digital DJing to gay nightlife. Long before controllers were mainstream, he hand-built a “Frankenstein” controller from salvaged RadioShack parts. While some mocked him—one LA DJ even dismissing it as a “Fisher-Price mixing board”—Drew kept pushing. That so-called toy would become the foundation of a movement that later reshaped the industry. Had the right eyes seen it at the time, Drew could have been credited among the inventors of the modern DJ controller.

He is an official remixer for Madonna, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Blondie, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, and Deborah Cox. Unlike most of his peers, Drew refused to conform to the circuit sound, forging his own remix identity built on chaos, storytelling, and drama. Managed by the late Orlando Puerta—a revered executive who worked closely with Madonna—Drew has credited Orlando as a father figure who saved his career, a bond he memorialized in a 2016 HuffPost article and the liner notes of Dirty Pop 37.

Beyond the booth, Drew was a Billboard Dance reporter and contributor to DJ Times, grounding his career in both music journalism and club culture. In April 2024, on a dare, he created Stuff I Wish Dad Said, a viral emotional support brand turned cultural movement that now racks up millions of views. He also writes and curates Textual Healing, a daily newsletter covering men’s sexual health, obscure health issues most are too afraid to discuss, tech house, metal, and queer horror—where he’s vowed to make Fangoria finally acknowledge his presence in the scene.