Alice Tan Ridley, mother of Precious actress Gabourey Sidibe, has died at the age of 72. Before making it big on America’s Got Talent, Ridley entertained New York subway riders for three decades. Ridley died on March 25, 2025, in New York, according to her obituary. No cause of death was given. However, Ridley was reportedly diagnosed with dementia in 2018, according to The Hollywood Reporter, so that may have been a factor. She was born in Georgia on December 21, 1952, and was the seventh of eight children. Before becoming a jazz and gospel singer, Ridley got her teaching license from the New York State Board of Education and had two children, one of them being Sidibe, as well as son Ahmed, after marrying Ibnou Sidibe in 1980. When she lost her job teaching special needs children in Brooklyn and got divorced, Ridley resorted to singing in the subways to earn any money she could. Her...