Cheryl Bridget "Pepsii" Riley (born October 18, 1961) is an American singer and actress. Riley is best known for her music during the late 1980s through the early 1990s, most notable; 1988's R&B

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

" Thanks for My Child". Riley also starred in

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...

's stage plays including; ''

Madea's Class Reunion ''Madea's Class Reunion'' is an 2003 American stage play created, written, produced and directed by Tyler Perry. The live performance released on VHS and DVD (October 2, 2003) was recorded live in Detroit at the Fox Theatre on September 13, 2003 ...

'' (2003) and ''

Why Did I Get Married? ''Why Did I Get Married?'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film adaptation written, produced, directed, and starring Tyler Perry. It was inspired by Perry's play of the same name. The film also stars Janet Jackson, Jill Scott, Malik Yoba, Shar ...

'' (2006).

Life and career

Early life and career

Born Cheryl Bridget Riley in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Riley was the first of two children born to James Madison Riley and Lucia Viola Riley. Riley attended

Clara Barton High School Clara Barton High School for Health Professions is a public high school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, that teaches from 9th - 12th grade. It is located at 901 Classon Avenue, across from the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic ...

. After high school, Riley worked as a nurse for disabled children before beginning her singing career. Riley began her music career as a lead singer in the band Stargaze, who released the single "You Can't Have It" in 1982. In November 1988, Riley topped the US R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

and hit the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

on the

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

at No. 32 with the ballad, "Thanks for My Child," a song written by

Full Force Full Force is an American music group of hip hop and R&B singers and producers from Brooklyn, New York. Members *B-Fine (Brian George) - drums and drum programming, backing vocals *Shy Shy (Hugh Junior Clark) - bass guitar, backing vocal ...

. The song peaked at No. 75 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in January 1989. The genesis of "Thanks for My Child" began with Full Force member Bowlegged Lou's experience with the complications of his wife's first pregnancy. The title track single to her debut LP ''Me, Myself and I'' made it to number 18 on the R&B charts in early 1989. Another single, "Every Little Thing About You," peaked at number 55 on the R&B charts later that year. Her second LP, ''Chapters'', was issued and yielded the singles "How Can You Hurt The One You Love" and a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

's 1968 hit "Ain't No Way". Her third album ''All That!'' was released by

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

, and featured the singles "Gimme" and "Guess I'm In Love."

Later career

After a hiatus from the entertainment industry, Riley re-emerged in the late 1990s by appearing on the songs "I Love It" and "Look Around" on

The Beatnuts The Beatnuts are an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernande ...

album '' A Musical Massacre''. Riley also starred in a number of gospel plays for best-selling playwright

, including ''

'', ''

Madea Goes to Jail ''Madea Goes to Jail'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry, which was based on his 2006 play, and starring Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Ion Overman, RonReaco Lee, Sofía Vergara, Vanessa Ferlito ...

'', ''

'', '' Laugh to Keep from Crying'', ''

Madea's Big Happy Family ''Madea's Big Happy Family'' is a 2010 American stage play created, produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars Tyler Perry as Mabel "Madea" Simmons and Cassi Davis as Aunt Bam. The play also marks the debut appearance of Aunt Bam ...

'' and the most recent, '' A Madea Christmas''. Riley also appeared in the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

versions of ''

Diary of a Mad Black Woman ''Diary of a Mad Black Woman'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Darren Grant and written by Tyler Perry. Inspired by the play of the same name, it marks the debut feature film of Perry, in addition to being the first ...

'' and ''

''. She is also starred in

's ''

Madea Gets a Job ''Madea Gets a Job'' is a 2012 American stage Play (theatre), play created, written, produced, and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars Tyler Perry as Madea (Mabel Simmons), Madea "Mabel" Simmons and Patrice Lovely as Hattie. The live performance rel ...

'' (2012) and ''

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned ''The Mourning Bride'' is a tragedy written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1697 at Betterton's Co., Lincoln's Inn Fields. The play centers on Zara, a queen held captive by Manuel, King of Granada, and a web of love and ...

'' (2014). Following her appearance on a number of tracks on the ''

'' soundtrack in 2005, the following year Riley released ''Let Me Be Me'', her first album in fourteen years. In 2015 she released a new solo album entitled ''Still Believe''.

Personal life

Riley married twice and has one child. In 1985, she married fellow Stargaze bandmate David Jones, but they divorced in 2000 after 15 years of marriage. In 2003, Riley married Chicago native Mike Grace, and together raised his son John Grace. In a recent interview with Lenny Green, Riley mentioned that she and Grace had divorced in 2011.

Discography

Albums

* 1988: ''Me, Myself & I'' (#128 Billboard 200, No. 9 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums) * 1991: ''Chapters'' (#62 R&B/Hip-Hop Albums) * 1993: ''All That!'' * 2006: ''Let Me Be Me'' * 2015: ''Still Believe''

Singles

* "Thanks for My Child" (1988) * "My Myself & I" (1988) * "Every Little Thing About You" (1988) * "How Can You Hurt The One You Love" (1991) * "Ain't No Way" (1991) * "Gimme" (1993) * "Guess I'm in Love" (1993) * "Good Lovin'" (1995) * "Let Me Love You Boy" (Snatch featuring Cheryl Pepsii Riley) (2000) * "He's a Hurricane" (James Day & U-Nam feat. Cheryl Pepsii Riley) (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Cheryl Pepsii 1961 births 1968 births American gospel singers African-American actresses Singers from New York City People from Brooklyn American contemporary R&B singers Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century African-American women singers 21st-century African-American women singers