Amber Patrice Riley is an American actress, singer and author. 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 won a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for three Teen Choice Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, and a Grammy Award. 

 

In November 2016, Riley led the West End debut of Dreamgirls, playing the lead role of Effie White. She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 2017 for her role in Dreamgirls. 

 

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. Their debut album, Songs from the Stage, was released on November 17, 2017. 

 

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