The Vivienne will be memorialised with a permanent statue in Liverpool’s Pride Quarter. Also known as James Lee Williams, the Drag Race UK star passed away on January 5, 2025, at the age of 32.

As reported by Attitude, the statue will be installed at the intersection of Victoria Street and Stanley Street, marking the entrance to the city’s LGBTQ+ district. The ambition is to create something that people can gather around, sit and have a catch-up with, serving as a permanent “guardian angel” for the local community in which James was ingrained.

The performer moved from North Wales to Liverpool at 16 years old and started working in venues like Garlands, GBar and Superstar Boudoir. They went on to win the inaugural series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019, before competing on All Stars and even Dancing on Ice, making history as the first drag artist to reach the final.

The statue project is being led by House of The Vivienne CIC, set up by the performer’s family following their death, as well as LGBTQ+ video podcast Proudly Said. Liverpool Business Improvement District has provided initial funding, enabling the formal launch alongside a fundraising campaign that aims to garner approximately £100,000 to commission and install the work.

Chanel Williams, Director of House of The Vivienne and James’ sister, shared, “James gave everything to Liverpool and Liverpool gave everything back to him… This city saw him, accepted him, and helped him become The Vivienne.

“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,” Chanel continued.

John Hyland of Proudly Said added, “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.”

Hyland expressed, “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.”

“Liverpool has always been a city that celebrates the people who shape and help to define its culture, and The Vivienne was one of them,” Bill Addy, Chief Executive of Liverpool Business Improvement District said.

“We are proud to support this project and what it represents, not just as a tribute to James, and all those who loved and supported James, but as a statement about the kind of city Liverpool is.”