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 "Thanks for My Child" is the debut single by Cheryl Pepsii Riley. Debuting on October 1, 1988, the single was the most successful release for Riley on the Hot Black Singles, and was her only release to make the Hot 100. "Thanks for My Child" made ...

". 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'' (2003) and '' Why Did I Get Married?'' (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 (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, 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 Botan ...

. 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 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 "conte ...

on the pop chart 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 voc ...

. 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 of

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 album ''

A Musical Massacre ''A Musical Massacre'' is an album by the American hip hop duo the Beatnuts. It was released in 1999 via Loud Records. It peaked at No. 35 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It contained two singles, "Se Acabo" and the Rhythmic Top 40 hit "Watch Out Now" ...

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

, including '' Madea's Class Reunion'', '' Madea Goes to Jail'', '' Why Did I Get Married?'', ''

Laugh to Keep from Crying ''Laugh to Keep from Crying'' is an 2009 American stage play created, produced, written and directed by Tyler Perry. The show first opened in the fall of 2009. The play is set at an inner-city building in a predominantly African-American neigh ...

'', ''

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 versions of '' Diary of a Mad Black Woman'' and ''

''. She is also starred in

's ''

Madea Gets a Job ''Madea Gets a Job'' is a 2012 American stage play created, written, produced, and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars Tyler Perry as Madea "Mabel" Simmons and Patrice Lovely as Hattie. The live performance released on DVD on February 5, 2013 ...

'' (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 Events January–March * January 8 – Thomas Aikenhead is hanged outside Edinburgh, becoming the last person in Great Britai ...

'' (2014). Following her appearance on a number of tracks on the '' Diary of a Mad Black Woman'' 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