Sandy "Pepa" Denton, who was born on November 9, 1964 in Kingston, Jamaica, moved to Queens, New York when she was a child. She met her close friend and co-founder of her rap band, Salt N Pepa, Cheryl "Salt" James in Queensborough Community College, where they were both taking up nursing. In 1988, they formed the band Salt N Pepa with Deidra Roper, who became their DJ. Two years later, they released their first album, Hot, Cool, & Vicious, which was followed by more successful albums and hits. In 1990, Denton gave birth to her first child, Tyran. Nine years later, she married longtime boyfriend Anthony Criss of the rap group Naughty By Nature, with whom she mothered a baby girl. The two divorced in 2001. A year later, the group disbanded for unclear reasons, but shortly reunited to appear as part of VH1's Hip Hop Honors program. Her other television credits include The Surreal Life, Joe's Apartment, and Oz.

Sandy "Pepa" Denton reunites with her college buddy and band mate Cheryl "Salt" James in VH1's reality series, The Salt N Pepa Show. The series chronicles the two women as they try to resolve their issues and rebuild their relationship, and possibly create fantastic music as they did two decades ago.



(Photo courtesy of VH1)