Nicole Scherzinger, the acclaimed singer and actress, achieved a major career milestone by winning her first Tony Award. On June 8, at the 2025 Tony Awards ceremony held at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, Scherzinger, 46, was honored with the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her captivating portrayal of Norma Desmond in the Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Sunset Blvd." This musical is an adaptation of the iconic 1950 Billy Wilder film of the same name.

In an emotional acceptance speech, Scherzinger, who is of Hawaiian, Ukrainian, and Filipino descent and hails from Kentucky, expressed her gratitude, stating the award made her "little Hawaiian Ukrainian Filipino girl’s dream come true." She acknowledged the demanding nature of the Broadway schedule and thanked her mother, who had her at 18, her father, sister, her entire "ohana" (family), and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. She said, "I always felt like I didn’t belong, but you all have made me feel like I belong and I have come home at last."

Before her Broadway triumph, Scherzinger was widely known as a member of the bestselling pop group, the Pussycat Dolls. She revealed that her experiences chasing stardom as a pop singer allowed her to connect deeply with her "Sunset Blvd." character, Norma Desmond, a faded silent film star staging a comeback. "Time is fleeting for all of us, and Norma struggled with abandonment, deep loneliness, feeling unseen, and not accepted,” Scherzinger explained, adding, “A lot of us feel that way, especially in this industry.”

Scherzinger's influence extends beyond the stage; she was named one of TIME’s 2025 most influential people. Fellow Tony Award winner Patti LuPone, in a tribute for the list, described Scherzinger's performance as "courageous, audacious, mesmerizing, elegantly beautiful, and ultimately heartbreaking.” Following its successful run, "Sunset Blvd." announced a final extension on Broadway with performances through July 20. Scherzinger concluded her acceptance speech with an inspiring message: "If there's anyone out there who feels like they don't belong or your time hasn't come, don't give up, just keep on giving and giving because the world needs your love and your light more than ever now."

The Tony Awards night was significant for "Sunset Blvd." as a whole, as the production also won the award for best musical revival, bringing its total Tony wins for the evening to three. Scherzinger delivered a stunning performance of the ballad “As If We Never Said Goodbye” during the ceremony, appearing barefoot on a smoke-filled stage in a simple black dress, which earned a standing ovation. The performance was introduced by screen and stage icon Glenn Close, who originated the role of Norma Desmond in the 1994 Broadway production and won a Tony for it in 1995. Close has also praised the current revival, calling it a “thrilling experience.” "Sunset Blvd." is based on the Oscar-winning 1950 film and follows a fading screen star who lives in the past. The original stage production premiered in London in 1993.

For the Best Actress award, presented by Oprah Winfrey, Scherzinger triumphed over a strong field of nominees, including record-breaking six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald. This Tony win adds to Scherzinger's accolades, as she previously won the 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the same role in the West End production of "Sunset Boulevard."

Scherzinger has often spoken about her lifelong dream of starring on Broadway. In May, after her Tony nomination, she expressed her overflowing gratitude. She shared a poignant video on Instagram from 2008, where she stood in New York’s Theater District, expressing her hope to one day "make it back home" to the stage. She sees a parallel between her journey and Norma Desmond’s aspiration to return to prominence, quoting her character: "As Norma Desmond would say, ‘I’ll be back where I was born to be. With one look, I’ll be me.'" She acknowledged that many knew her primarily as a pop star or from The Pussycat Dolls but emphasized that theater "is home for me. I couldn’t have asked for a better dream role."

"Sunset Boulevard," which received a total of seven nominations, led the Tony nominees among musical revivals this year. Theater critic Johnny Oleksinski, in his four-star review for The Post when the production first opened in October 2024, lauded Scherzinger’s performance, describing her Norma as "titanic," "proud," and "feral," noting that "her confidence and burning desire to succeed makes her fall much greater than that of a dusty hermit." Scherzinger expressed her pride in the entire production, stating, "It’s interesting because playing Norma Desmond, it’s like, where does Norma Desmond end and Nicole begin? And vice versa?... I always dreamed of wanting to share all of my gifts and all of my talents and my whole heart with the world. Now I’ve gotten to because of this. I’m so proud of everyone in this production because we’re all in it together."