Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Erivo Biography by Marcy Donelson The Color Purple [New Broadway Cast Recording] Cynthia Erivo is a multi Tony-, Grammy-, and Emmy-winning actress and singer whose skills and strong presence have found her portraying such figures as Harriet Tubman and Aretha Franklin. She made her West End debut in 2011 before collecting awards including the best actress Tony for her performance as Celie in the 2015 Broadway revival of the musical The Color Purple. She made her big-screen debut in 2018's Widows, directed by Steve McQueen. Quickly taking Hollywood and the music industry by storm, Erivo became an Oscar nominee, garnering nods for both best actress and best song ("Stand Up") for 2019's Harriet. As a recording artist, Erivo signed to the Verve label and released Ch. 1 Vs. 1, her debut solo album, in 2021. A few years later, another Oscar nomination and appearances in the U.K. Top Ten and Hot 100 Top 50 for "Defying Gravity" were among scores of accolades for her turn as Elphaba in Wicked: Part I (2024) and Wicked: For Good (2025). Her second solo album, the genre-blending I Forgive You, also saw release in 2025. Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett Sing Scott Alan Born Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo to Nigerian parents in South London, Erivo started out on a path to study music psychology at university but ultimately graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After appearing on smaller stages, her first role in the West End was as Madeleine in the 2011 production of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. She went on to tour the U.K. in Sister Act and star off-West End in the musical version of The Color Purple, playing Celie. Back in the West End, at the London Palladium, she was cast in I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical. While continuing to find work in London theater, she branched off into television with a guest spot on the comedy Chewing Gum in 2015. That October, she released the collaborative album Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett Sing Scott Alan with her fellow stage actor. A month later, a Broadway revival of The Color Purple with Erivo as Celie began previews. It opened at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on December 10, 2015. Early in 2016, the Broadway label released The Color Purple [New Broadway Cast Recording], featuring Erivo alongside castmates Danielle Brooks and, in her Broadway debut, Jennifer Hudson. Erivo won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical that June. (The show also won for Best Revival of a Musical, and took home the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.) That year, Erivo also appeared on the British TV shows Mr. Selfridge and The Tunnel. In 2017, she became an Emmy winner when an appearance promoting The Color Purple on the NBC's Today show won Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program, and she introduced a recurring character on Broad City. The Steve McQueen film Widows marked Erivo's film debut in 2018. In 2019, Erivo starred as Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and she got a second one for Best Original Song for "Stand Up," which she co-wrote for the film with Joshuah Brian Campbell and Gabe Fox-Peck. "Stand Up" was also nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Song Written for Visual Media. Erivo next appeared in the HBO crime miniseries The Outsider and played Aretha Franklin on the National Geographic anthology series Genius. Three months after the March 2021 debut of the latter, Erivo issued "The Good," her first single for Verve. A handful of additional tracks built more anticipation for the album Ch. 1 Vs. 1, which arrived that September. It debuted at number 77 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart. The following year, she played The Blue Fairy in Robert Zemeckis' silver-screen adaptation of Pinocchio. In 2023, Erivo starred in and co-produced the film drama Drift, about an African war refugee, appeared opposite Idris Elba in Luther: The Fallen Sun, and returned to Broadway for a one-night-only cameo in Gutenberg! The Musical! In June of 2024, Erivo was part of a concert presentation of the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music at Lincoln Center. Toward the end of the year, she and Ariana Grande had a Top Ten U.K. hit (Top 50 in the U.S. and elsewhere) with their version of "Defying Gravity" from the film adaptation of the Wizard of Oz-related Broadway smash musical Wicked. (Erivo 's "I'm Not That Girl " also cracked the Hot 100.) With Erivo starring as the green-skinned Elphaba opposite Grande's Glinda, the film became a hit, and the soundtrack to December's Wicked: Part I entered the Billboard 200 at number two. Erivo got a second career Oscar nomination in the category of Best Actress (Grande was nominated for Best Supporting Actress). In between Wicked installments, Erivo released her second solo album. Featuring a dexterous mix of alt-R&B, pop, gospel, and more, I Forgive You arrived on Verve in June of 2025. It featured collaborations with songwriter/producer Will Wells, who also contributed to Ch. 1 Vs. 1. The musical’s Act II, Wicked: For Good, hits theaters in late 2025.