Amber Riley

Amber Patrice Riley (born February 15, 1986) 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.

In 2016, Riley originated the lead role of Effie White in the West End debut of Dreamgirls. 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.

Riley won season 17 of Dancing with the Stars in 2013. 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.