Christmas season is upon us, and recent Emmy Award-winning actor Sheryl Lee Ralph isn’t letting the holidays pass without gifting fans something special. The original Dreamgirls star is kicking off December with the release of her first-ever Christmas album, appropriately titled Sleigh.
Sheryl Lee Ralph has been singing for decades
Sheryl Lee Ralph launched her acting career in the late 1970s working alongside the legendary Oscar winner Sidney Poitier, who directed the film A Piece of the Action. She appeared on TV shows like Good Times and The Jeffersons before crossing over to the stage: in 1981, she played Deena Jones in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls.
For her breakout role in Dreamgirls, Ralph was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, ultimately losing out to her Dreamgirls co-star Jennifer Holliday.
Ralph eventually released her own studio album, In the Evening, in 1984. She never released another album since, instead focusing on acting work.
Sheryl Lee Ralph released her first Christmas album, ‘Sleigh.’
At the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards, Ralph reminded audiences everywhere why her voice is what rocketed her to fame four decades ago: when she accepted the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as teacher Barbara Howard on the hit show Abbott Elementary, she began her speech with a riveting rendition of Dianne Reeves’ song “Endangered Species.”
Now, Ralph is flexing her musical muscles in a new Christmas album titled Sleigh. Decked in all red with red lipstick on the album cover, Ralph has returned to music in earnest with covers of beloved holiday classics like “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman,” “Silent Night,” and “O Come All Ye Faithful,” as well as inventive new songs like “Wreck the Halls” and “Silent Night Vibes.”
She spoke about the album — and her intention with it — in an interview on Late Night With Seth Meyers. She clarified that the title is spelled “S-l-e-i-g-h,” but added that “It all depends on how you say it, because we are going to slay.”
Sleigh may be Ralph’s very first Christmas album, but Ralph herself is no stranger to holiday media. Over the years, she’s starred in several Hallmark holiday movies, including Christmas at Holly Lodge, Christmas In Compton, Christmas Hotel, and Christmas Comes Twice.
She currently stars as Barbara Howard on ‘Abbott Elementary’
Since 2021, Ralph has starred as the veteran teacher Barbara Howard on Abbott Elementary, which gave her her first Emmy Award over four decades since she first appeared on TV screens. While the role has given her so much, Ralph herself has admitted that she wanted to push herself out of her comfort zone with a different role on the show: the chaotic principal Ava Coleman, played on the show by comedian Janelle James. The show’s creator, fellow Emmy winner Quinta Brunson, insisted on her playing Mrs. Howard.
“If anybody had told me that I would be playing a character like Barbara Howard, I would have said, ‘No, no,’” Ralph told The New York Times about her role. “I honestly thought Barbara was going to be invisible in the show. I had no idea that people would really see me. I thought I was invisible. So I leave those things open to God.”
“That’s why I wanted to be [the] tone-deaf [principal] — because people can’t see me that way!” she said in an interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show. “And I would say, ‘Now this would be great to conquer that for people to see.’”
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