Early life

Riley was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Tiny (née Hightower) and Elwin Riley. She has two older sisters, Toyia and Ashley. Riley auditioned for American Idol when she was 17 years old, during the show's second season, but was turned down by the producers. She graduated from La Mirada High School in La Mirada, California in 2004.

Career

Acting and singing

In 2008, Riley was cast in the role of Mercedes Jones on the comedy-drama television series Glee, and appeared as a main cast member for all sixth seasons. Riley performed numerous solos throughout the series' run, including "Respect", "Bust Your Windows", "Hate on Me", "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", "Beautiful", "Bridge over Troubled Water", "I Look to You", "Ain't No Way", "Try a Little Tenderness", "Spotlight", "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and, three days after Whitney Houston's death, performed a tribute version of "I Will Always Love You". She also played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the episode "The Rocky Horror Glee Show", singing the lead on the song "Sweet Transvestite" to generally positive reviews from critics. For her role as Mercedes Jones, Riley won a Screen Actors Guild Award and received nominations for an NAACP Image Award and a Teen Choice Award.

In 2015, it was reported that Riley would star in a Christmas television film, her first movie role, and her first acting role, since Glee. In December 2015, she portrayed Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North, in NBC's live performance of The Wiz.

Riley appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, sang the national anthem at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, and is currently working on a debut solo studio album. She also co-wrote a track titled "Leave a Light On" for British group The Saturdays, which is featured on their album Living for the Weekend. Riley's debut single, "Colorblind", premiered live on April 3, 2014, on The Queen Latifah Show. The song was written by Emeli Sandé, Claude Kelly and Steve Mac, and was released as a digital download on April 8, 2014. The song was also performed by Riley on Glee.

It was announced on 4th February 2016 that Riley would play the lead role of Effie White in Dreamgirls the Musical which is set to open at the Savoy Theatre in London's West End in November 2016

Dancing with the Stars

In 2013, Riley won the seventeenth season of ABC's dancing competition Dancing with the Stars. She was partnered with the show's one and only six-time champion, Derek Hough. Riley and Hough tied the record for highest first-week score of 27, received 5 perfect scores of 30, and only received a score lower than 8 one time. Riley is the first African-American woman to win Dancing With the Stars."

Performances

Week #	Dance/song	Judges' score			Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Tonioli
1	Cha-Cha-Cha/"Wings"	9	9	9	No Elimination
2	Jive/"Reet Petite"	8	8	8	Safe
3	Charleston/"Bang Bang"	8	8	8	Safe
4	Tango/"Love Lockdown"	9	91	9	Safe
5	Foxtrot/"Try a Little Tenderness"	9	7	10	Safe
6	Samba/"Get It Right" Switch-Up Challenge	10 Awarded	8 4	10 Points	No Elimination
7	Paso Doble/"Diablo Rojo" Group Dance Freestyle/"The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)"	10 10	10 10	9 10	Safe
8	Rumba/"If I Could Turn Back Time"	9	92	10	Safe (Immunity)
9	Quickstep/"That's It!" Salsa (Trio challenge)3/"Que Viva la Vida"	8 9	8 9	8 9	Safe
10	Jazz/"Locked Out of Heaven" Viennese Waltz/"Locked Out of Heaven" (Acoustic Version)	10 10	10/94 10/104	10 10	Safe
11	Charleston/"Bang Bang" Samba relay/"No Scrubs" Freestyle/"Can You Do This"	10 Awarded 10	10 4 10	10 points 10	Safe
	Quickstep & Samba Fusion/"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher"	10	10	10	Won
1In week four, judge Len Goodman was absent and guest judge Julianne Hough filled in for him. 2In week eight, judge Len Goodman was absent and guest judge Cher filled in for him. 3The dancer Hough and Riley chose for the Trio Challenge is Mark Ballas. 4Scores from guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Fashion

In January 2014, Riley and her sister Ashley launched a plus-size online clothing boutique, "Rileyland Fashions". She also models the garments.

Philanthropy

In 2011, Riley acted as a campaign spokesperson for Do Something and VH1 Save The Music Foundation's second annual Battle for the Bands. Riley starred in a PSA campaign and engaged fans through social media to participate in the campaign that mobilized young people in the fight for keeping music education in schools. Riley has also teamed up with State Farm's Celebrate My Drive campaign to advocate safe awareness for Beginner Drivers, and Encouragement for youth.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	St. Sass	Toby	Unsold pilot
2009-15	Glee	Mercedes Jones	93 episodes
2010	The Simpsons	Aiesha	Episode: "Elementary School Musical"
2011	Glee: The 3D Concert Movie	Mercedes Jones	Concert movie
2013	Dancing With the Stars	Herself / Contestant	Season 17 winner; performer on May 20, 2014
2015	My One Christmas Wish	Jackie Turner	Television film
2015	The Wiz Live!	Addaperle The Good Witch Of The North	Television special
2016	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Dream Ghost #2	Episode: "Josh Has No Idea Where I Am!"

Discography

See also: Glee discography

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions	Album
		US
2014	"Colorblind"	—	TBA
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Work	Result
2010	Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Female Scene Stealer	Glee	Nominated
	Teen Choice Award for Choice Music: Group		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series		Won
2011	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
	Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Female Scene Stealer		Nominated
2012	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated
2013	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series		Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]