Cheryl Pepsii Riley

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Cheryl Pepsii Riley
Born (1968-10-18) October 18, 1968
Brooklyn, New York

Cheryl "Pepsii" Riley-Grace (born October 18, 1968) is an American R&B/gospel singer and actress, best known for her 1988 ballad, "Thanks for My Child."

Life and career

Cheryl Riley was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 2003 she married New York native Mike Grace and together they had a son named John Grace, in an interview with Lenny Green earlier this year she mentioned that the couple had divorced. She worked as a nurse for handicapped children for ten years before beginning her singing career, topped the US R&B chart and hit the Top 40 on the pop chart at #32 with the 1988 ballad, "Thanks for My Child," a song written by Full Force. It peaked at #75 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1989.[1] 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.

As pivotal as "Thanks for My Child" was for Riley's career, it was not the first song Lou offered to her. She refused his offer to record "I Wonder If I Take You Home" because she did not want to spread herself too thin, but after it became a million-selling hit for Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam in 1985, she thought she had missed her big break. Lou then offered her "Thanks for My Child". Riley still had her nurse's job when the song went to number one on the R&B chart.

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's 1968 hit "Ain't No Way". Her third album All That! was released by Reprise, and featured the singles "Gimme" and "Guess I'm in Love."

After a hiatus from the entertainment industry, Riley re-emerged in the early 2000s as a star in a number of gospel plays for best-selling playwright Tyler Perry, including Madea's Class Reunion, Madea Goes to Jail, Why Did I Get Married?, Laugh to Keep from Crying, Madea's Big Happy Family and the most recent, A Madea Christmas. Riley also appeared in the film versions of Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Big Happy Family. She is also starring in Tyler Perry's Madea Gets A Job. On June 27, 2006, she released her first album in fourteen years, called Let Me Be Me.

Discography

Albums

  • 1988: Me, Myself & I
  • 1991: Chapters
  • 1993: All That!
  • 2006: Let Me Be Me

References

  1. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 463. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
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