Salt (rapper) Biography: Husband, Age, Net Worth, Songs, Parents, Height, Albums, Children
Cheryl Renee James, known professionally as Salt, is an American rapper and songwriter, best known as a member of the female hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa.
She was born on March 28, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York City, and is 60 years old.
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Salt studied at Queensborough Community College and formed Salt-N-Pepa in 1985 with Sandra Denton, known as Pepa. DJ Deidra Roper, known as DJ Spinderella, joined ahead of the group’s second album.
The trio’s debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious, arrived in 1986, and the hit “Push It” went on to define their sound. The group won a Grammy and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.
Beyond music, Salt starred in the 2008 reality series The Salt-N-Pepa Show on VH1 and appeared in the films Who’s the Man? and Coming 2 America. She married Gavin Wray in 2000, and they divorced in 2018. She has two children, and her net worth is $7 million.
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| Wiki Facts & About Data | |
| Real Name: | Cheryl Renee James |
| Stage Name: | Salt |
| Born: | March 28, 1966 (age 60 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Brooklyn, New York City, United States |
| Nationality: | American |
| Ethnicity: | African-American |
| Education: | Grover Cleveland High School, Queensborough Community College |
| Height: | 163 cm (5 feet 4 inches) |
| Religion: | Christianity (Seventh-day Adventist Church) |
| Parents: | Mr. James, Barbara James |
| Siblings: | 2 |
| Spouse: | Gavin Wray (m. 2000-2018) |
| Relationship: | Hurby Azor (1984-1989) |
| Children: | Corin Wray, Chapele Wray |
| Occupation: | Rapper, Songwriter, Actress |
| Net Worth: | $7 million |
Early Life & Education
Salt was born Cheryl Renee James on March 28, 1966, in Brooklyn, New York City. Her birth date makes her an Aries.
Her father, Mr. James, worked as a transit worker, and her mother, Barbara James, was a bank manager. She is the middle of three children and grew up in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Salt is African-American and Christian. She was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church during a mission trip to Ethiopia with Oakwood College.
She attended Grover Cleveland High School and graduated in 1983. She then enrolled at Queensborough Community College to study nursing, where she met Sandra Denton in 1985.
Career
Salt began her career in 1985, when she and Sandra Denton formed a group with the producer, Hurby Azor, who also managed them. They first performed as Super Nature, later renamed Salt-N-Pepa, and Latoya Hanson joined them before Deidra Roper, known as Spinderella, replaced her in 1987.
Their first single, “The Show Stoppa (Is Stupid Fresh),” was a modest R&B hit, and they signed with Next Plateau Records. Their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious, arrived in 1986 and went platinum in the United States, making them the first female rap act to reach that mark.
A remix of “Push It” by Cameron Paul became their first major hit in 1987, and A Salt with a Deadly Pepa was certified gold the following year. Blacks’ Magic followed in 1990 and produced singles including “Let’s Talk About Sex.”
Very Necessary in 1993 became their biggest seller, with about 7 million copies sold worldwide, and carried “Shoop” and “Whatta Man,” the latter recorded with En Vogue. The group won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1995 for “None of Your Business.” Salt also co-starred in the 1993 film Who’s the Man?
The 1997 album Brand New was released without Hurby Azor’s involvement, and its label, Red Ant, went bankrupt soon after, which limited promotion. That same year, Salt recorded “Stomp” with Kirk Franklin and God’s Property, a track on a gospel album that became one of the best-selling in gospel history. She left the group in 2001, and Salt-N-Pepa officially disbanded in 2002.
The trio reunited in 2008, the same year The Salt-N-Pepa Show aired on VH1. They went on to perform at festivals in Australia and London, joined a hip-hop legends tour in 2011, and toured the UK and Europe in 2017 and 2018.
In 2019, Spinderella said she had been terminated from the group, and DJ Cocoa Chanelle replaced her. A Lifetime biopic about the group premiered in 2021, and the trio received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
They received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025 in the Musical Influence category. That year, the group also filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group over copyright termination rights, which a federal judge dismissed in January 2026, and the group’s representatives have said they intend to appeal.
Social Media
- Wikipedia: Salt (rapper)
- Facebook: Cheryl “Salt” James (@daonlysalt)
- Instagram: Cheryl “Salt” James (@daonlysalt)
- IMDb: Cheryl ‘Salt’ James
- X: Cheryl ‘Salt’ James (@DaOnlySalt)
Personal Life
Salt is 60 years old and stands 163 cm (5 feet 4 inches) tall.
Salt dated Hurby Azor, the Salt-N-Pepa manager and producer, from 1984 to 1989. Shortly after parting ways with him, she started dating the music producer Gavin Wray. The two dated for about ten years before she married him on Christmas Eve in 2000.
She and Gavin Wray have two children. Their daughter, Corin Wray, was born in 1991, and their son, Chapele Wray, was born in 1999.
The marriage ended in divorce in 2018, although some reports place the divorce in 2019, and she has described it as a really difficult one.
Salt has said she did not want her relationship with her ex-husband covered in the 2021 biopic about the group. She has had no publicly confirmed relationship since the divorce.
Net Worth
Salt has a net worth of $7 million. The figure comes from her rise as a member of the award-winning female rap group Salt-N-Pepa.
Her income stems from album sales, including the 1993 release Very Necessary, which sold about 7 million copies worldwide, as well as music royalties, touring, acting roles, and the reality series The Salt-N-Pepa Show.
In 2025, the group filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group over copyright termination rights, a case tied to the ownership of their catalog.
Discography
Albums
All albums were released as part of Salt-N-Pepa.
- Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986)
- A Salt with a Deadly Pepa (1988)
- Blacks’ Magic (1990)
- Very Necessary (1993)
- Brand New (1997)
- A Blitz of Salt-n-Pepa Hits: The Hits Remixed (1990, compilation)
- The Greatest Hits (1991, compilation)
- Rapped in Remixes: The Greatest Hits Remixed (1992, compilation)
- The Best of Salt-N-Pepa (1999, compilation)
- 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection (2008, compilation)
- Icon (2011, compilation)
Singles
- “Push It” (1987)
- “Shake Your Thang” (1988, featuring E.U.)
- “Expression” (1989)
- “Do You Want Me” (1991)
- “Let’s Talk About Sex” (1991)
- “Shoop” (1993)
- “Whatta Man” (1993, with En Vogue)
- “None of Your Business” (1994)
- “Ain’t Nuthin’ But a She Thing” (1995)
- “Gitty Up” (1997)
- “Stomp” (1997, with Kirk Franklin and God’s Property)
Filmography
Movies
- Stay Tuned (1992)
- Who’s the Man? (1993)
- Sandy Wexler (2017)
- United Skates (2018), as herself
- Coming 2 America (2021), as Salt
- Salt-N-Pepa (2021), as executive producer
TV Shows
- Hip Hop Honors (2004 and 2005), on VH1
- The Salt-N-Pepa Show (2008), on VH1
- Generation Gospel (2009), on 106 & Gospel
- Ladies’ Night (2019), as herself
- The Real Queens of Hip-Hop: The Women Who Changed the Game (2021), as narrator
What People Ask
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