was born in Riverhead, NY, where she started her performing career in Dance at the age of 4 in recitals. Primarily due to her father’s influence, a trumpet player with Stan Kenton, she grew up with a deep appreciation for music and always sang along with recordings of artists such as Ella, Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday. After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, Nikki was strongly influenced in dance and music by artists such as James Brown, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin. There she began to teach both Ballet and Jazz Dance.

She then returned to NY to pursue a career in Theater and Dance. Nikki studied with Alvin Ailey and protégés of Jack Cole and Agnes DeMille. Nikki performed regularly with many New York area dance companies as a guest artist and featured soloist. She also had her own Dance Troupe and school in the heart of Greenwich Village. Ms. Armstrong has performed in numerous stage, video and rock productions and has done choreography for Rock and R&B bands on both coasts. Regardless of the fact that Nikki is only 5'3", she found a career in Print Work and Runway Modeling. She is also an accomplished actress having performed in various productions for theatre, videos, industrials, commercials and film work.

As a singer Nikki has even had an extensive stay in Sydney, Australia where she recorded material for producer, Leon Berger (internationally acclaimed Pop Music songwriter). She has been writing songs for many years and has collaborated with other writers, such as Tim Bogart (Hot Tuna and Beck, Bogart and Appice), Barry Goldbert (who wrote Gladys Knight's hit "I've Just Got to Use My Imagination"), Lenny Macalusco (producer and performer with Tina Turner and songwriter for The Spinners) and Jason Scheff (bassist and singer with Chicago). Several of her songs have been published by Sleeping Giant Music and Famous Music. Nikki has performed and recorded with Hal Schaefer (accompanist for Peggy Lee), Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (Doobie Brothers), Elliot Randall (Steely Dan) and recording artist Maxine Nightingale.

In the late 1980’s she performed extensively with her original band throughout the northeast. She has done several stints on the Majestic Cruise Lines in the Caribbean as a featured vocalist. Nikki was the featured singer with Ruby and Toots and the Shades, a Blues and R&B revue which performed regularly in NYC, including Central Parks Summer Stage events. The Ruby and Toots Revue was the Featured Blues act at Blues 2000 (upstate New York) in 1998 and 1999 and The Bayou Festival (Westchester, New York) in 2000.

Currently Nikki also teaches voice, performs her own renditions of various Jazz standards with her trio in various venues around the Tri-State, as well as with her Blues and R&B Band called ‘Whole Lotta Blues’. She is the Musician’s Liaison for the New York Blues & Jazz Society and appears on-air at WFDU FM 89.1.