Virenia Gwendolyn "Nia" Peeples is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Nicole Chapman on Fame. She is also known for her role as Karen Taylor Winters on The Young and the Restless and as Sydney Cooke on Walker, Texas Ranger. Peeples was born in Hollywood, California, the daughter of Elizabeth Joan , a flamenco dancer, and Robert Eugene Peeples. She was raised in West Covina. Her maternal grandparents were immigrants from the Philippines, and were of Filipino, Spanish, French, and German descent. Her father, who was originally from... Mississippi, was of Scottish, Irish, English, Native American, and Italian ancestry. She attended UCLA on a music scholarship, during which time she performed as Liberace's opening act in Las Vegas on weekends. Peeples started her career as part of the performance group The Young Americans. In 1988 she hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart with "Trouble," which climbed to #35 on the Hot 100. Her most successful pop single is "Street Of Dreams," which hit #12 on the Hot 100 in 1991.
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