Alice Tan Ridley was an American busker and singer who performed gospel, R&B and Motown in the New York City subway system for 30 years. She died on March 25th 2025, aged 72.
Ridley grew up in Lumpkin, Georgia, seventh of eight children. Her father was a lumberjack. The Ku Klux Klan stalked the surrounding woods, but the family was prominent in spite of segregation. All eight siblings were trained by their mother to be skilled at music and singing. Her brother Roger started a political party in New York; her sister Dorothy, who also moved to New York, co-founded Ms magazine.
Ridley first visited New York aged 12 and was captivated by the city.
Ridley busked through Music Under New York (MUNY), a programme run by the Transportation Authority. She performed at Times Square, Grand Central Station, Herald Square, 34th Street/Sixth Avenue and other stations, typically playing a three-hour set from 4.30pm most days. On a good day she could earn $300. She originally supplemented a teaching job with busking, but the income was good enough that she quit teaching.
Her husband, Ibnou Sidibe, secretly took another wife for six years. After discovering this, Ridley raised their two children as a single mother, supporting the family through busking.
In 2002 Ridley won the pilot of "30 Seconds to Fame", earning $25,000. In 2010, after being discovered by Dvir Assouline, a young Israeli, she appeared on "America's Got Talent" and reached the semi-finals in Las Vegas. Her rendition of "At Last" was widely acclaimed.
Fame brought tours, shows in more than 20 states and trips abroad. She headlined at B.B. King's in New York and performed with her own seven-piece band. Her rise came shortly after her daughter, the actress Gabourey Sidibe, received an Oscar nomination for "Precious".
Ridley found touring exhausting, having come to fame in her late 50s. She returned to busking and held regular slots at Harlem's Cotton Club. In 2016 she released a CD of her subway standards. She preferred the intimacy of the subway audience to performing under stage lights.
You may be marching to the beat of a different drummer, but you're still in the parade.