Amber Riley | |
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Born | Amber Patrice Riley February 15, 1986 Compton, California, U.S. |
Other names | RILEY |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2002–present |
Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instrument | Vocals |
Labels | |
Amber Patrice Riley[1] (born February 15, 1986)[2] sometimes known mononymously as RILEY (stylized in all caps), is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her portrayal of Mercedes Jones on the Fox comedy-drama series Glee (2009–2015). For her performance on the series, she was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards, and won a shared Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. As a member of the cast, Riley charted over 200 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for a Grammy Award.[3][4]
In 2016, Riley originated the lead role of Effie White in the West End debut of Dreamgirls.[5] She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical Performance in 2017 for her work.[5][6]
Riley won season 17 of Dancing with the Stars in 2013.[7] In 2017, Riley appeared as a judge on BBC One musical theatre talent show Let It Shine and formed a musical theatre supergroup with Beverley Knight and Cassidy Janson, known collectively as Leading Ladies and signed to East West Records/Warner. Her debut album, Songs from the Stage, was released on November 17, 2017. She also participated on the American and British versions of The Masked Singer.