Trivia: She may have won with her version of American Idol's 2004 single "I Believe," but it was her passionate take on George Gershwin's "Summertime" that had everyone talking weeks after she had performed. That she delivers teen pop and classics from the American songbook with equal conviction is a testament to the versatility of singer Fantasia Barrino. Confident to the degree you could consider her brash, Barrino seemed an unlikely candidate to take the teen-oriented show's title at first glance, but with her dynamic gospel-tinged voice that never failed her, she not only became the Idol judges' obvious favorite, but the American public's, too. Born and raised in High Point, NC, Barrino fell in love with music through the recordings of Monica, Brandy, Aretha Franklin, Pink, and -- in keeping with her diversity -- Aerosmith. Being a 19-year-old single mother and an Idol finalist had some of the media mumbling and sneering, but the always-certain Barrino paid no mind. Becoming a mother at the age of 17 had focused Barrino and given her the strength and drive to audition for the show in Atlanta. Out of 70,000 hopefuls, Barrino earned her way to the top by adjusting her style to whatever genre was thrown at her. Upon beating runner-up Diana DeGarmo, Barrino's first words as American Idol 2004 were "I broke my shoe!" Numerous appearances on talk shows and a cameo on the television show American Dreams -- playing the role of her beloved Aretha Franklin -- followed. Barrino made history when she became the first artist in history to debut at number one with her first single, "I Believe" -- written by Idol alum Tamyra Gray. J-Records released her full-length debut, Free Yourself, in November 2004. A year later her autobiography, Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, appeared and was turned into a film directed by Debbie Allen and premiered on the Lifetime cable network in 2006. Her sophomore effort, simply titled Fantasia, landed at the end of the year. In 2007, she made her Broadway debut playing Celie in The Color Purple. Her third album, Back to Me, was released in 2010, and earned her a Grammy Award for the song "Bittersweet." Barrino's next album, Side Effects of You, was released in 2013.

Trivia: Washington, D.C., native Taraji P. Henson didn't always know that her smoldering charisma and beautiful face would make her a professional actress. On the contrary, she originally studied electrical engineering when she enrolled at North Carolina Agric & Tech. She later transferred to Howard University, where she attended classes while working as a secretary at the Pentagon, and as a singer and dancer aboard a cruise ship. She eventually changed her academic focus to theater and graduated in 1995. Henson's career began with appearances on Homicide: Life on the Street and ER, but it really took off when she was cast in a major supporting role in 2001's Baby Boy and 2004's Hustle & Flow, in which she also showcased her vocal talents, singing on the track "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" for the movie's soundtrack, which took home the Best Song Oscar that year. Henson later moved on to take major roles in Smokin' Aces and Talk to Me. Henson made the most of her work as the mother of the backward-aging man in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and her performance garnered Best Supporting Actress nominations from both the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy. She became an in-demand character actress after that success and appeared in a series of films including Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, the remake of The Karate Kid, Date Night, and Larry Crowne. In 2012, she was part of the ensemble in the hit comedy Think Like a Man, and later reprised her role in the sequel, Think Like a Man Too. Henson returned to television on the CBS crime drama Person of Interest, playing an NYPD detective. Her character was dramatically killed off in the third season, with Henson claiming she wanted to focus on her film career. However, she quickly took a role on the FOX musical drama Empire, playing breakout character Cookie Lyon.

Trivia: Is the daughter of a minister and a deacon. Began acting at 6 years old in her church's theater program. Auditioned for Juilliard with monologues from August Wilson's The Piano Lesson and Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale. Was appearing in both the Shakespeare Theater Company production of The Servant of Two Masters and Blacken the Bubble in Harlem when she was offered her role in Orange is the New Black.

Trivia: In 2005, wrote and starred in an autobiographical one-man show based on his family and life in Philadelphia entitled A Boy and His Soul, for which he won a GLAAD Media Award and Lucille Lortel Award. Performed in the world premiere of the stage production Passing Strange in 2008 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and later reprised his role in Spike Lee's film adaptation of the play. Played the role of Billy Flynn in the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago. Gave a performance lecture at University of Texas at Austin called The Intersection of Soul Music, Black Cultural Expression and Surrealism and has also spoken to students at several other academic institutions, including University of North Carolina, University of Minnesota, Temple University and University of Wisconsin. Directed the off-Broadway productions Exit Cuckoo and Single Black Female. Is an accomplished playwright, having written Up Jumped Springtime, Mission of a Saint and Redemption of a Sinner. Is on the Board of Directors of the Vineyard Theatre in New York. Is a faculty member of the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.

Trivia: Won the Cappie Award for Best Lead Actor in a Play in 2006 for his performance in The Laramie Project at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Recipient of the John Houseman Award in 2010 for excellence in classical theater by a Juilliard student.. Played Walter Younger in productions of A Raisin in the Sun at both Juilliard and the L.A. Theatre Works. Made his professional New York stage debut as Perry in 2011's Suicide, Incorporated at the Roundabout Theater Company's Black Box Theatre. Played Buggy in the Off-Broadway production of Hurt Village at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at the Pershing Square Signature Center in New York. Made his Broadway debut as Tybalt in the 2013 revival Romeo and Juliet, opposite Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad.

Trivia: Named after the Revlon perfume Ciara. Traveled around the world as an army brat, with stints in Germany, New York, California, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada. Wrote the song "Got Me Waiting," on Fantasia Barrino's album Free Yourself (2004). Released her debut album, Goodies, in 2004. Her sophomore album, Ciara: The Evolution, went to number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2009, opened for Britney Spears' Circus Tour in London, and then headlined her own tour, Jay-Z and Ciara Live. Invited as a guest to the White House in 2015. Titled her sixth album Jackie in honor of her mother.

Trivia: David Alan Grier may be best known as a dexterous TV comedy star, but he is also a multi-talented veteran of musicals, plays, and numerous films. Born in Detroit, Grier graduated with a B.A. in radio, TV, and film from the University of Michigan. Shortly after earning his master's degree at the Yale School of Drama, Grier made his Tony award-nominated Broadway debut in 1981, starring in the musical The First. Along with a stint in the hit musical Dreamgirls, Grier also did Shakespeare and acted in the off-Broadway drama A Soldier's Play. Moving to film, Grier earned the Venice Film Festival's Best Actor prize for his first feature, Robert Altman's Streamers (1983). Grier was subsequently one of several cast members to make the transition from stage to screen when A Soldier's Play was adapted into the critically lauded, Best Picture nominee A Soldier's Story (1984). Grier moved to lighter cinematic fare with a starring role in the advertising parody Beer (1985) and appeared in a series of undistinguished films, including From the Hip (1986) and Almost an Angel (1990). Grier's brief role in Keenen Ivory Wayans' dead-on blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka! (1988), however, turned into an even more fruitful collaboration when Wayans cast Grier in his comedy sketch show In Living Color. Throughout In Living Color's 1990-1994 run, Grier created some of the show's most memorable characters, including flamboyant, circle-snapping critic Antoine Merriweather of "Men On. . ." Grier maintained his film career by appearing as himself in Altman's Hollywood satire The Player (1992) and co-starring in the Eddie Murphy vehicle Boomerang (1992), as well as Damon Wayans' superhero spoof Blankman (1994). After the show ended, Grier continued to alternate between TV and films, executive producing and starring in the short-lived series The Preston Chronicles (1995), as well as appearing in the Robin Williams hit Jumanji (1995). Grier re-teamed with his "Men On" cohort Damon Wayans for the latter's 1998 sitcom Damon, but it failed to match In Living Color's popularity. Grier notched a ratings hit, and got to display his dramatic chops with his performance as a Black Panther in the miniseries The 60s (1999). After appearing in the lackluster Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000) and Return to Me (2000), Grier took another shot at sitcom success as the title Secret Serviceman in DAG (2000). He subsequently tried starring in a number of sitcoms that failed to take off, but always found consistent supporting work, with recurring roles on Life with Bonnie, Crank Yankers, and in several feature films. Grier also returned to the stage in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and in 2008, he was given his own show, a no-holds-barred mock-news program in the style of the Daily Show called Chocolate News, which presented both real and fictional news stories from an African American perspective. In 2009 he competed on the eighth season of the reality show Dancing With the Stars, and also appeared in the spoof film Dance Flick. He lent his voice to the animated project Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil.

Trivia: Started as a stand-up comedian, getting his start at clubs in the South Side of Chicago. Offered a job as a staff writer for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien after making an appearance on show. Has his own production company called Coled Blooded.

Trivia: Was born in a family that includes a long line of New Orleans musicians.Played drums and percussion with the Batiste Brothers Band when he was 8.Moved onto the piano at the age of 11 as a suggestion from his mother.Studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.Has a Master of Music in Jazz Studies.His fingers playing the piano were animated for the movie Soul (2020).Traveling ambassador for the non-profit organization Music Unites.Founder and leader of the marching band The Stay Human Band.

Trivia: Louis Gossett Jr. ranks as one of the most respected African-American actors of stage, screen, and television. Tall, lanky, and bald-pated, Gossett was a basketball player in high school until a leg injury benched him and his interest turned toward acting. In 1953, at the age of 17, Gossett made his Broadway debut in Take a Giant Step, and ended up with a Donaldson Award for the year's best newcomer. Though working steadily on stage and television, Gossett was still interested in basketball. The New York Knicks drafted him out of college in 1958 and he played with them briefly before returning to performing. In 1961, Gossett reprised on film the role he played in the theatrical production of A Raisin in the Sun. It was a well-regarded beginning, and he continued to appear on stage and television, and beginning in 1967, the occasional feature film or television movie. During this early period, he also occasionally sang in nightclubs. Gossett did not become a bona fide star until his Emmy-winning performance in the landmark television miniseries Roots (1977). His career picked up considerably after that. In 1982, Gossett earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing a deceptively heartless drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman. That same year, he also starred in another television series as the wise mentor to an alien prince in The Powers of Matthew Star (1982-1983). After the success of An Officer and a Gentleman, Gossett reprised his roll as the tough sergeant, albeit using different character names, in several films, including the Iron Eagle series, The Punisher (1989), and others. But though he makes an excellent rough guy, Gossett has showed a willingness to let his softer side show through in such made-for-TV movies as Sudie and Simpson (1990).

Trivia: Multifaceted performer Tamela Mann began life as the youngest of 14 children in a Fort Worth, TX, family. Significantly, she grew up in a household firmly rooted in the Christian faith, which paved the way for Mann's own devotion to the gospel as an adult. In time, this dovetailed with the young woman's preternatural gifts as a vocalist (which first revealed themselves during stints in her local church choir). She teamed up with the powerhouse worship ensemble Kirk Franklin and the Family during the early '90s, and attained fame alongside them, ultimately evolving into one of the most sought-after gospel recording artists of the early 21st century. Mann's later efforts as a soloist only heightened her popularity and visibility and included collaborations with artists such as Al Green, Mary J. Blige, Bono, and Celine Dion.During the mid-2000s Mann smoothly expanded her repertoire to include film roles via a series of collaborations with her husband, theater actor David Mann. The two frequently worked in tandem and made the majority of their appearances under the aegis of writer/director/star Tyler Perry, in whose stage plays they had starred. Efforts that featured the Manns included Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2008) and Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (2009).

Trivia: San Francisco-born actress Aunjanue Ellis graduated with a B.A. in African-American studies from Brown University before studying acting at NYU. She began her career in the mid-'90s, appearing in films like Girls Town and A Map of the World. In 2002, she gave a memorable performance as secret agent Sistah Girl in the comedy Undercover Brother, and that same year she was cast in a starring role in the series MDs. In 2005, she nabbed another starring role in a series as MSgt. Jocelyn Pierce on the Pentagon drama E-Ring, and she stayed with the show for 11 episodes. In 2008, she appeared in a starring role as an unlikely murder suspect in the thriller Cover.

Trivia: Is a practicing Quaker. Her first professional role was as Isabella in Measure for Measure at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Made her Broadway debut as an understudy in The SeagulI in 1992. Performed as Katherine in the New York Shakespeare Festival stage production of Henry V. Played Brooke Wyeth in the off-Broadway premiere of Other Desert Cities in 2011; when the show transfered to Broadway, she was replaced by Rachel Griffith, but later joined the show as a replacement.