Gabourey Sidibe’s mother, ‘AGT’ contestant was 72

Alice Tan Ridley, the mother of Oscar-nominated actress Gabourey Sidibe and a singer who found her own celebrity on America’s Got Talent in 2010, died March 25 in New York City, according to her obituary. She was 72.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to AGT for comment.

Nicknamed Tan, Ridley was born the seventh of eight children to Melton Lee and Lessie B. Ridley in Georgia’s Charles Junction, which is now called Lumpkin. In 1969, she graduated from Stewart County High School and, from there, she obtained her teaching license for New York state. She married Ibnou Sidibe in 1980, with whom she shares both Gabourey and son Ahmed.

After getting divorced, the single mother turned to singing at locations around the city, including the Cotton Club in Harlem and subway stations, especially the one at Herald Square, for years. She was discovered there by future manager Dvir Assouline, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Her most high-profile gig was AGT, on which she performed impressive versions of songs including Etta James’ “At Last” and Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train to Georgia.” But her obituary notes that she was also a contestant on Showtime at the Apollo in 2005 and, in 2002, on 30 Seconds to Fame, where she won $25,000. Additional screen credits include David LaChapelle’s documentary Rize, in which she performed “Amazing Grace,” and the 2005 movie Heights, which starred Elizabeth Banks, Glenn Close, and James Marsden.

In 2016, Ridley released her debut album, Never Lost My Way.

Sidibe is best known for her titular role in the 2009 movie Precious, for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She has gone on to appear on shows such as Empire and American Horror Story, as well as movies including Seven Psychopaths, Antebellum, and Lifetime’s new Give Me Back My Daughter.

Other survivors of Ridley include brothers James D. “Jimmy” Ridley and Tommy Lee “Tom-Tom” Cherry, and sisters Julia Van Mater- Miller and Mildred Ridley Dent, THR reported. She was also grandmother to twins Cooper and Maya, whom Sidibe and husband Brandon Frankel welcomed in April 2024.