Cindy Herron-Braggs

Cindy Herron-Braggs was born Cynthia Ann Herron on September 26, 1961, in San Francisco, California. Her career in entertainment began early, with her first acting role in the PBS television drama ‘Up and Coming’ in 1980. Prior to her musical career, Herron was active in pageants, earning titles such as “Miss San Francisco 1986” and “Miss Black California.” She also gained exposure as a Jet Magazine’s JET beauty in 1980. Her theatrical background includes performing in the Jerry Herman musical revue ‘Showtune’ in the early 1980s, alongside work as a background vocalist for various Bay Area acts.

In 1988, Herron co-founded the R&B/pop group En Vogue, where she quickly became a prominent voice. She sang lead vocals on the group’s debut single “Hold On,” which achieved mainstream success, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and selling over a million copies, earning platinum certification. The group’s debut album, ‘Born to Sing’ (1990), also went platinum, featuring Herron’s lead vocals on tracks like “Lies” and “You Don’t Have to Worry,” both hitting number 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Her contributions extended to the multi-platinum album ‘Funky Divas’ (1992), where she shared lead vocals on “Free Your Mind,” a song that garnered two MTV Video Music Awards. En Vogue continued its success with the global hit “Don’t Let Go (Love)” (1996), from the ‘Set It Off’ soundtrack, which sold over 1.8 million copies worldwide and reached number one.

Throughout her career, Herron-Braggs has sold over 20 million records with En Vogue, earning numerous accolades including two American Music Awards, a Billboard Music Award, and multiple MTV Video Music Awards and Soul Train Music Awards, along with six Grammy nominations. Beyond music, she has maintained an acting career with roles in films such as ‘Juice’ (1992) and ‘Batman Forever’ (1995), and television appearances in ‘Empire’ (2020) and ‘Coming 2 America’ (2021). She also played Deena Jones in the stage version of ‘Dreamgirls’ in 2007. Herron-Braggs has consistently demonstrated her commitment to En Vogue, being one of only two original members to appear on all the group’s album releases.