Patrice Covington

Covington was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, and began singing in church when she was a child.^[1] She made her stage debut in 2009-2010 tour of Dreamgirls, and later performed on Ain't Misbehavin', The Book of Mormon - Jumamosi and Motown The Musical.^[2] In 2011 she released self-titled EP and later worked as a background singer for Jennifer Hudson, Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera.^[3] In 2015 made her Broadway debut in The Color Purple playing Squeak and as understudy for Joaquina Kalukango in the role of Nettie.^[4][5] Along with cast she received Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program for performance on Today Show.^[6]

In 2018, Covington starred in Old Globe Theatre's original production of musical The Heart of Rock and Roll.^[7][8] In 2021 she played singer Erma Franklin in the National Geographic biographical series, Genius: Aretha alongside her The Color Purple co-star, Cynthia Erivo.^{[9][10][11][12]} In 2022 she had the recurring role in the Amazon comedy-drama series, A League of Their Own.^[13] In 2023 she made her film debut starring in the musical mockumentary Bootyology.^[14][15] She also made guest starring appearances in All Rise and Chicago P.D.. In 2024 she played the leading role in the BET+ drama film, For What It's Worth.^[16]