Book cover art inspired by the book, Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert, the (2026) novel by Bob The Drag Queen. This visual interpretation and creative exploration was based on various themes, cultural topics and historical references mentioned in the book.
Official Book Information: Simon & Schuster
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Official Book Description:
From RuPaul’s Drag Race winner, Traitors contestant, and host of HBO’s We’re Here comes an inventive, wondrous novel about American hero Harriet Tubman that remixes history into a fresh, dynamic novel about love, freedom, salvation, and hip-hop.
In an age of miracles where our greatest heroes from history have magically, unexplainably returned to shake us out of our confusion and hate, Harriet Tubman is back, and she has a lot to say.
Harriet Tubman and four of the enslaved persons she led to freedom want to tell their story in a unique way. Harriet wants to create a hip-hop album and live show about her life, and she needs a songwriter to help her.
She calls upon Darnell, a once successful hip-hop producer who was topping the charts before being outed on a BET talk show. Darnell has no idea what to expect when he steps into the studio with Harriet, only that they have a short period of time to write a legendary album she can take on the road. Over the course of their time together, they not only create music that will take the country by storm, but confront the horrors of both their pasts, and learn to find a way to a better future.
Original, evocative, and historic, Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert is a landmark achievement that will burrow deep into our hearts (and ears).
In an age of miracles where our greatest heroes from history have magically, unexplainably returned to shake us out of our confusion and hate, Harriet Tubman is back, and she has a lot to say.
Harriet Tubman and four of the enslaved persons she led to freedom want to tell their story in a unique way. Harriet wants to create a hip-hop album and live show about her life, and she needs a songwriter to help her.
She calls upon Darnell, a once successful hip-hop producer who was topping the charts before being outed on a BET talk show. Darnell has no idea what to expect when he steps into the studio with Harriet, only that they have a short period of time to write a legendary album she can take on the road. Over the course of their time together, they not only create music that will take the country by storm, but confront the horrors of both their pasts, and learn to find a way to a better future.
Original, evocative, and historic, Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert is a landmark achievement that will burrow deep into our hearts (and ears).
Audio book version of Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob The Drag Queen
This visual direction leans into the "Live in concert" element of the book. Although this book takes places in the present time, this visual direction is inspired by the style of concert posters from the 1950's (in the era of music legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and The Temptations).
Harriet Tubman, an important plotpoint of the book, is featured prominently on the cover as if she was the headlining musical act at a live concert. While there is no mention of Bob The Drag Queen in the book, there are mentions of many black individuals and perspectives - which is represented by the author in drag with their afro as a prominent visual element.
Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert artwork as a concert poster
About Harriet Tubman (WomensHistory.org): Tubman was born into slavery in 1822, and later escaped from Dorchester County, Maryland to Philadelphia where she lived as a freewoman. Once free, Tubman dedicated her life to the abolition of slavery as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. She brought approximately 70 enslaved African Americans to freedom in the north. Tubman remained a philanthropist well into her later years, founding the Home for Aged & Indigent Negroes and supporting women’s rights.
About the Author:
Non-binary comic/actor Caldwell Tidicue, or “Bob The Drag Queen'' on your 'For You' page, describes himself as “hilarious, beautiful, talented and...humble.” We can blame Bob’s mother for his unabashed confidence that won him the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar'' on season 8 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” as well as multiple acting roles for HBO, Netflix, SonyTristar, MTV, and VH1.
Through his work co-hosting HBO’s first unscripted show, “We’re Here,” Bob has been awarded a Peabody Award, GLAAD Media Award, and a Television Academy Honors recognition. "Sibling Rivalry", his highly-rated podcast with Monét X Change, has also won a Queerty Award as well as a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Podcast.
Over the past few years, Bob has not had much down time between launching his production studio Purse First Studios, interviewing with Seth Meyers, Gayle King, Sherri Shepherd, Ke$ha, and NPR’s Ari Shapiro, attempting murder on third season of Peacock’s The Traitors, being the Master of Ceremonies for Madonna’s Celebration Tour, completing his own world comedy tour, writing a NYT Best Selling debut novel Harriet Tubman: Live In Concert, dropping his comedy special This is Wild! on Hulu, and making his Broadway debut as Zidler in Moulin Rouge! The Musical.
Praise for Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert
Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books of 2025 by Pride • Best New Books of Spring 2025 by Bustle • Most Anticipated Books of 2025 by LitHub • Biggest Books of March by Book Riot • Most Anticipated Books of March by Goodreads • Featuring two new songs written for the audiobook and performed by Bob the Drag Queen!
“Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert is magnificent! I want to send to the folks who do the Nobel Prize for Literature. I don’t know them, but I want them to read this!” —Whoopi Goldberg
“It’s a knockout.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“An emotional exploration of religion, external and internalized homophobia, the pressure of progressing Black liberation, and the importance of revisiting the past.” —New York magazine
“Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert is magnificent! I want to send to the folks who do the Nobel Prize for Literature. I don’t know them, but I want them to read this!” —Whoopi Goldberg
“It’s a knockout.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“An emotional exploration of religion, external and internalized homophobia, the pressure of progressing Black liberation, and the importance of revisiting the past.” —New York magazine
"Vivacious . . . The reverence for Harriet, ‘America’s first Black superhero,’ makes her feel alive on the page. It’s a knockout."
– Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The first novel from TV host and RuPaul's Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen vibes with energy and humor but never wavers in its focus on the resilience and power of Black Americans, 'made out of something stronger than steel and diamonds combined,' and the universal passion for liberation."
– Booklist, starred review
"Bob the Drag Queen adds another feather to his cap: The RuPaul’s Drag Race winner/podcast host/stand-up comic is now an author, penning a fun and imaginative blend of history and science fiction. History comes to life, and past and present mix in fresh new ways.”
– The Washington Post
“What if Harriet Tubman came back to life…and became a pop star? In Bob the Drag Queen’s debut novel, the historic abolitionist does just that, forming a hip-hop band with four enslaved people whom she freed to create an album and live show, which tells her story in a new way. Bob’s voice helps bridge those generation gaps, educating readers and imagining Tubman’s future with the same humor and effortless shade displayed on The Traitors.”
– Bustle
"Yes, it’s true: that Bob the Drag Queen wrote a novel and it is about Harriet Tubman coming back to life and making a hip-hop album. You already know you’re on board, as well you should be: the novel is funny and wild and sharp, about fame and race and creativity and America. Harriet’s is a show not to be missed."
– LitHub
Comparison with original 2026 hardcover edition of Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob The Drag Queen
Photo Credits: Unknown