Nia Peeples

Virenia Gwendolyn Peeples (born December 10, 1961 in Hollywood, California) is an American R&B; and dance music singer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Nicole Chapman on the hit 1980s television series Fame. Most recently, she portrayed Karen Taylor Winters on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Her maternal grandparents are both immigrants from the Philippines. Her father has Scottish, Irish, English, Native... more

Virenia Gwendolyn Peeples (born December 10, 1961 in Hollywood, California) is an American R&B; and dance music singer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Nicole Chapman on the hit 1980s television series Fame. Most recently, she portrayed Karen Taylor Winters on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Her maternal grandparents are both immigrants from the Philippines. Her father has Scottish, Irish, English, Native American and Italian ancestry. Her mother is of Filipino, German and Spanish descent.. She was raised in West Covina, California. She attended UCLA on a music scholarship, during which time she performed as Liberace's opening act in Las Vegas on weekends. Peeples has been married and divorced three times, to American telenovelas actor Guy Ecker (1984 - 1986), to singer Howard Hewett (1989-1993), and to Lauro Chartrand (1997 - 2004). She has one son, Christopher (b. 1990), with Hewett. In 1988 she hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart... less