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Nicole Trope Biography & Facts

Nicole Scherzinger ( SHUR-zing-ər; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente on June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is a former member of the pop group and dance ensemble The Pussycat Dolls (2003–2010, 2019–2021). With only two albums and over 55 million records sold worldwide, The Pussycat Dolls are one of the world's best-selling female groups of all time. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Scherzinger began acting at the age of 14 and studied musical theatre at Wright State University. In pursuit of a musical career, Scherzinger dropped out of college and toured with the American rock band Days of the New before finding mild success with Eden's Crush, a girl group created through The WB's Popstars. After taking on minor acting roles, Scherzinger became the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. Despite releasing two successful albums with the group, the prominence of her role was a point of contention as it contributed to the group's dissolution in 2010. Scherzinger carved out a solo career outside the group; her debut album, Her Name is Nicole was shelved due to insufficient commercial response from its promotional singles. However, her debut album was released as Killer Love (2011)—which was supported by the singles "Right There" (featuring 50 Cent), "Poison" and "Don't Hold Your Breath"—followed by its sequel, Big Fat Lie (2014). Both albums failed to chart domestically, although they found moderate success on international charts. Scherzinger also ventured into television, winning Dancing with the Stars in 2010, and serving as a judge on several other television talent shows, including The Sing-Off (2009–2010), The X Factor US (2011), The X Factor UK (2012–2013, 2016–2017, 2019), Australia's Got Talent (2019), and The Masked Singer (2019). Other work during this period includes her theatrical roles in Cats (2014) and Sunset Boulevard (2023–2024), as well as roles in the Disney animated film Moana (2016), the television film Dirty Dancing (2017), and the television special Annie Live! (2021). In 2019, Scherzinger briefly reunited with the Pussycat Dolls for a planned 2020 tour. During her career, Scherzinger has received nominations for a Grammy and two Laurence Olivier Awards. She won the 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Norma Desmond in 2023 West End revival of Sunset Boulevard. Her other ventures include clothing lines and a fragrance, as well as serving as an ambassador for the Special Olympics and as a supporter of UNICEF UK. Early life Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente was born on June 29, 1978, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Alfonso Valiente of Filipino descent and mother who is of Native Hawaiian and Ukrainian descent. Alfonso left the family when Nicole was two years old. Rosemary then married German-American Gary Scherzinger, who adopted Nicole, and whose surname she eventually took. She has a younger sister, Keala. When Nicole was six, they moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where her mother was a clerk, and her step-father was a welder. Scherzinger describes her upbringing as difficult as she grew up "without much money" and supported her parents by being a waitress, taking local modelling jobs, and being part of an entertainment troupe of the local amusement park, Kentucky Kingdom. With her grandfather a priest, Scherzinger was raised as Roman Catholic and considered herself conservative with "really strong religious beliefs" and would go to church twice a week in order to make her mother proud. At the age of 14, she joined Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she was cast in her first professional play, La Bête. She graduated in 1996 from the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) at duPont Manual High School, where she participated in many plays, including Alice in Wonderland, in which she portrayed Alice. Scherzinger was surprised she got the part as she was up "against a girl with blue eyes and blonde hair". In 2007, she was inducted to DuPont Manual Alumni's Hall of Fame as one of the youngest inductees. Since 2013, Scherzinger has endowed YPAS with a yearly $2,000, namesake scholarship. After earning a scholarship, she attended Wright State University and majored in theatre arts with a dance minor. During this period, Scherzinger garnered the lead roles in regional productions of the musicals Chicago, Guys and Dolls, and Show Boat. In her final year of college, Scherzinger was hired by Days of the New band leader Travis Meeks to contribute vocals on their self-titled second studio album. Meeks sought out a singer who could "deliver some more world/operatic textures and sounds." The album's supporting tour followed, which led Scherzinger to drop out of college. Towards the tour's conclusion, Meeks stated that the two grew apart creatively, claiming she "didn't seem to understand music very well" but noted she is an "amazing entertainer". In 2018, Scherzinger received the 2017 Alumna of the Year Award from the Wright State Alumni Association. Career 2001–2002: Eden's Crush In 2001, Scherzinger's mother saw a commercial for the WB's show Popstars USA, a reality series with the aim to chronicle a music group's formation until the recording of their debut album. Warner Bros. imprint London-Sire Records signed the group to a recording contract before the band was named and had finalized its membership, due to the hours of network television exposure the group would receive. Initially reluctant to audition, Scherzinger later opted otherwise as she saw it as an opportunity to travel to Los Angeles. For her audition she sang Whitney Houston's version of Dolly Parton's song "I Will Always Love You" and alongside Ana Maria Lombo, Maile Misajon, Ivette Sosa, and Rosanna Tavarez, established the girl group Eden's Crush. Their debut single, "Get Over Yourself", was released in March 2001 and debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the first female act to debut at number one on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. Their debut studio album, Popstars (2001), debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 chart. They went on to tour with 'N Sync and Jessica Simpson, but, by the end of the year, their label went bankrupt and the group disbanded. During this time, will.i.am, front man of The Black Eyed Peas, approached Scherzinger to become a member of the group, but her then-boyfriend, Nick Hexum declined. Following the band's dissolution, Scherzinger took a detour into acting and guest-starred in television shows such as My Wife and Kids (2002) and had a cameo in the independent comedy, Chasing Papi (2003). 2003–2009: The Pussycat Dolls In August 2003, opting for a solo recording contract, Scherzinger traveled to Arista Records office in New York with a demo CD of her own written material under her Hawaiian family name Nicole Kea. Her performance was interrupted by a citywide blackout, and she was forced to leave. Meanwhile, .... Discover the Nicole Trope popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Nicole Trope books.