Cheryl 'Pepsii' Riley

Cheryl Bridget "Pepsii" Riley (born 18 October 1968; Brooklyn, New York) is an American R&B and soul vocalist and actress.

Emerging as a defining voice of the late 1980s urban music scene, she established a distinctive career footprint by combining robust gospel-trained vocal stylings with contemporary balladry and high-intensity dance-pop. Over a multi-decade career, Riley successfully transitioned from a major-label chart-topping singer into a premier leading lady of American gospel theater, developing a reputation for raw emotional delivery on both the microphone and the theatrical stage.

Early Life

Raised in the vibrant cultural landscape of Brooklyn, Riley developed her foundational musical roots by singing in her local church choir from a young age. She attended Clara Barton High School, where she successfully completed her training to become a licensed practical nurse. Prior to entering the entertainment industry full-time, she spent a decade working as a professional nurse dedicated to caring for children with disabilities, a deeply personal experience that later enriched her emotional performance capacity. Balancing her healthcare career with her creative passions, she performed at nightclubs on weekends and joined the local Brooklyn band Stargaze as their lead singer, debuting on the recorded market with the 1982 independent single "You Can't Have It".

Career

Riley launched her mainstream professional timeline after being discovered by the legendary Brooklyn hip-hop and R&B production collective Full Force. Signed to Columbia Records, she achieved immediate international prominence with her 1988 breakout ballad "Thanks for My Child", a poignant anthem written and produced by Full Force that went on to top the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and enter the mainstream pop top 40.

This monumental milestone anchored her debut studio album Me, Myself and I, which she followed with successive major-label albums Chapters in 1991 and All That! in 1993. Reinventing her career pathway in the late 1990s, she stepped away from the major-label ecosystem to become an icon of urban theatre, establishing herself as one of playwright Tyler Perry's most trusted and consistent stage vocalists.

She starred in massive national touring stage hits including Madea's Class Reunion, Madea Goes to Jail, and Why Did I Get Married?. Her theatrical success seamlessly crossed over to cinema, where she appeared in the prominent on-screen film adaptations Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Big Happy Family, alongside a recurring television role as Wanda on the TBS comedy series House of Payne. Returning occasionally to the studio, she established her own independent label, SodaFace Records, to release her independent solo albums Let Me Be Me in 2006 and Still Believe in 2015.

Personal Life

While maintaining a highly respected reputation as an authentic, passion-driven performer, Riley has remained closely connected to her urban roots and her family circles. Her unique artistic nickname was affectionately coined during her youth due to her fondness for the popular beverage, becoming a permanent staple of her professional moniker. Her untouchable vocal legacy continues to be highly cited by soul music purists and single mothers globally who connected deeply with her signature recordings, a journey that was nationally celebrated with a dedicated biographical episode on TV One's acclaimed documentary series Unsung. Celebrating her 58th birthday, her transition from a dedicated community nurse into a versatile star of the American stage and screen remains a celebrated blueprint for artistic longevity and independent creative resilience.

Current Activities

Cheryl Bridget "Pepsii" Riley continues to anchor the contemporary New York soul scene as a vital live performer and active mentor. She serves as the long-time host and master of ceremonies for Black Velvet Mondays, Musicians and Singers Jam, a legendary weekly showcase held in New York City's Greenwich Village that has become a foundational staple for rising independent vocalists, live instrumentalists, and spontaneous celebrity drop-ins.

Extending her collaborative history into the modern era, she recently lent her powerful vocals to UK soul producer James Day for a well-received 2026 remix version of the track "He's a Hurricane".