Alice Tan Ridley, ‘America’s Got Talent’ Star & Mom of Gabourey Sidibe, Dies at 72

Brittany Sims April 9, 2025, 4:18 pm

Actress Alice Ridley attends the Lions Gate premiere of 'Rize' at the Egyptian Theatre on June 21, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images) — Mark Mainz/Getty Images

Alice Tan Ridley, mother of Precious actress Gabourey Sidibe, has died at the age of 72. Before making it big on America’s Got Talent, Ridley entertained New York subway riders for three decades.

Ridley died on March 25, 2025, in New York, according to her obituary. No cause of death was given. However, Ridley was reportedly diagnosed with dementia in 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter, so that may have been a factor. She was born in Georgia on December 21, 1952, and was the seventh of eight children.

Before becoming a jazz and gospel singer, Ridley got her teaching license from the New York State Board of Education and had two children, one of them being Sidibe, as well as son Ahmed, after marrying Ibnou Sidibe in 1980. When she lost her job teaching special needs children in Brooklyn and got divorced, Ridley resorted to singing in the subways to earn any money she could. Her obituary stated that she and Ibnou remained close after the divorce.

In 2002, she won $25,000 on the first episode of 30 Seconds to Fame and was a singer at Harlem’s Cotton Club for many years. However, Ridley didn’t make it big until she auditioned for AGT in 2010. She was noticed by an Israeli student, Dvir Assouline, in the subway, and he convinced her to audition. He also became her manager that year.

She performed “At Last” by Etta James, and her powerful voice resonated with the judges. Ridley made it all the way to the semi-finals before being voted off. After AGT, Ridley and her seven-person band performed all over the world.

Six years later, at the age of 63, the singer released her debut album, Never Lost My Way, which was a collection of covers of her favorite songs and some originals, including songs about her children dealing with cheating lovers. She continued performing throughout her 60s until her dementia diagnosis.

Despite making it big on AGT, Ridley told The New York Times that she went back to singing in the subways in 2014 because she “missed it.”

Gabourey has not spoken out publicly about her mom’s death.