63 Josie McCoy

## Josie McCoy

**Josephine "Josie" McCoy** was a main character on The CW's *Riverdale* and is a main character on *Katy Keene*. She is portrayed by Ashleigh Murray.

Josie was the lead singer and guitarist of Josie and the Pussycats. However, after she secretly made the decision to pursue a solo music career, Valerie and Melody disbanded the group.

Josie was named by her father in honor of the late singer Template:Wikipedia. Because of this and her father's passion for music, Josie often struggles to gain his approval while also trying to impress him. Unlike her father, Josie's mother, Sierra, is far more encouraging of her talents, especially where her band and music are concerned. They both enforce "black excellence," especially when the choice of the band members are concerned.

Five years after graduating from high school, Josie moved to New York City to further pursue her music career. There, she resurrected the Pussycats with Cricket and Trula. However, within two years of reviving the Pussycats, Josie pursued a solo career, eventually becoming a multi platinum superstar. However, when she got news of her father's death during her tour in Berlin, Josie fled to Riverdale, where she made good with Val and Mel and resurrected the Pussycats once more to join her on tour while she investigates her father's death.

## Character Description

*A snooty and ambitious teen. She’s the lead singer of Josie and the Pussycats and has no interest in recording any songs written by Archie.*

*Spinning off from her time in the small town of Riverdale, a now 20-something Josie sets off on a new adventure to make it in the big city. More determined than ever to break into the music scene as the next Diana Ross, Josie finds herself forging new friendships, falling into new relationships, and, one day, becoming the star she is destined to be.*

## Early Life

Josie grew up in Riverdale. She was primarily raised by her mother, as her father was often away on business. In Josie's early years, her mother became the mayor of Riverdale, and consequently, she and her mother had to endure the hate mail and slanderous messages people were sending to them. Sometime prior to her introduction to the series, she formed a musical group that would later become known as Josie and the Pussycats. Josie, along with the other two members Valerie and Melody, spent their time practicing in the stock room at Power Records where they worked. One day, Josie came to rehearsal with a bag of cheap cat ears from the Halloween store. With her goals in sight, she plans on making it big; winning the Rockland County's Battle of the Bands the prior year was only the beginning.

## Throughout Riverdale

* Season 1
* Season 2
* Season 3
* Season 4
* Season 5

## Physical Appearance

Josie is a young lady with rich, brown skin, dark brown eyes, and thick, bouncy, curls. She's naturally very slender, and flaunts her body shape confidently, often dressing like a celebrity. Her clothes are similar to rock star-inspired styles and she's often seen sporting leather jackets along with her trademark Pussycat ears. However, since leaving the Pussycats and going solo, she has refrained from wearing the Pussycat ears.

## Personality

Josie is both zealous and talented. She is the lead singer as well as the guitarist for Josie and the Pussycats. She thrives to exceed and be the best, especially with both parents watching over her shoulders at every turn. Her mother encouraging her to succeed and to embrace herself as a powerful and successful woman of color, while her father on the other hand, shows very little interest in her musical aspirations, looking to it as nothing more than "pop music" and child's play. Because of this, she tries even harder to impress him and gain his approval.

Josie is also a very loving and caring person to the people she loves and cares about. At times she's not perfect, as when she gets frustrated, she tends to take it out on others. As to the time when her father was in town, she ended up taking her anger out on Valerie, resulting in Valerie leaving the band temporarily. However, Josie can also be very soft and caring towards those she cares about. Upon moving to New York City, she has formed a strong bond with Katy, Pepper, and Jorge.

## Relationships

### Cheryl Blossom

Main article: Cheryl and Josie
 File:RD-Caps-2x07-Tales-from-the-Darkside-61-Josie-Cheryl.png
Josie and Cheryl had become really close over the years. They always care for each other and have shown that they'd do anything for each other. Josie often does favors when Cheryl asks her. As a favor to Cheryl, Josie agreed to assist Archie with his music. Josie and the Pussycats also protected Cheryl after she was drugged and almost raped by Nick St. Clair. Since then, Cheryl has gone to great lengths in order to protect Josie and repay her for saving her. Both Josie and Cheryl have referred to the other as "My girl" due to their close friendship. However, this changed when it was revealed that Cheryl was the one who stalked Josie and framed Chuck for the act.

### Sierra McCoy

Main article: Josie and Sierra
 File:RD-Caps-2x13-The-Tell-Tale-Heart-95-Mayor-Sierra-McCoy-Josie.png
Josie has a close-knit relationship with her mother. They care deeply for each other, as a mother and daughter would. Their relationship is more developed than Josie's relationship with her father. Even though Sierra may be strict toward her daughter, it is only for her Josie's benefit. She pushes her to achieve her goals and is proud of her for her accomplishments, such as the band, Josie, and the Pussycats. Their bond strengthened due to threats her mother received during her mayoral campaign. During that time, they came together as a unit.

### Myles McCoy

 File:Season 1 Episode 6 Six Faster, Pussycats! Kill! Kill! Myles Sierra 5.jpg
Josie's relationship with her father is rather complicated. The two of them are not close due to the fact that her father is often on the road given his career as a professional jazz player. To make matters worse, Myles is quite hard on Josie, generally putting a lot of pressure on her regarding her musical choices and career. Because of this, Josie tries even harder to please him, but he remains to be unimpressed, despite her best efforts. This is proven when he left the 75th annual Variety Show during her performance with her the Pussycats, which he views as child's play and Pop music, though Josie insists that it's more. Despite his views on the Pussycats as a group, he values Valerie talents, who he believes to be the real deal, as she provides the group with some much-needed integrity.

### Valerie Brown and Melody Valentine

 File:RD-Caps-5x15-The-Return-of-the-Pussycats-138-Valerie-Josie-Melody.jpg
Josie, Valerie, and Melody have been close friends for years. The three of them made up the highly ambitious rock band, Josie and the Pussycats. They met and befriended each other while working at Power Records, where they used to practice together. One day, Josie came up with the idea of calling themselves the Pussycats after showing up to practice with cheap cat ears from the Halloween store. Valerie temporarily left the band after Josie and she had a dispute but they eventually worked it out and found their way back to each other. However, this dispute pales in comparison to the one that followed after Valerie and Melody learned that Josie was starting on her solo career and was leaving the Pussycats. Unfortunately, the ladies have not spoken to each other since. Seven years after graduating from high school, she reunites with Mel and Val and take the Pussycats on tour.

### Chuck Clayton

 File:RD-Caps-2x07-Tales-from-the-Darkside-78-Josie-Chuck-dancing.png
While Chuck and Josie may not have come in close contact, Chuck took a liking to her. When he entered the music room, he was amazed by her voice. However, Josie didn't return the warm greetings as she knew his past with women and would never date a "chauvinist, misogynistic, harasser of woman," such as himself. As Josie was leaving school, she came across Chuck and allowed him to give her a ride home, but not before they stopped at Pop's. Even though Josie insisted that they weren't on a date, they did bond more than they ever had before. Chuck claimed that he'd changed for the better. However, Sierra wasn't happy to find them together. The following day at school, Josie received a disturbing message from a mysterious admirer, assuming this was Chuck's doing, she confronted him at the library, resulting in him getting escorted to the principal's office.

### Archie Andrews

 File:RD-Caps-3x16-Big-Fun-05-Josie-Archie.png
Josie and Archie grew up in Riverdale together. Their relationship originally started out as a small rivalry between musicians, as Archie, who was looking to rise as an up-and-coming songwriter, hoped that Josie would assist him in doing just that. While Josie on the other hand, who is an established musician in her own right, wasn't willing to help him achieve his aforementioned goal. However, their relationship later evolved into a friendship after the pair bonded over their love of music, which resulted in Archie performing alongside the Pussycats. Josie also came to Archie's aid and helped get him clean. The two later began a relationship after Archie supported Josie during her time of need, but broke up when Josie left town to pursue her music career.

### Veronica Lodge

Main article: Josie and Veronica
 File:RD-Caps-2x12-The-Wicked-and-The-Divine-83-Josie-Veronica.png
Josie's friendship with Veronica kicked off after Veronica joined the Pussycats as a temporary replacement to Valerie. They bonded over personal family drama, specifically issues with their fathers. After Veronica became an official part of the family business, Josie became distant with her after her mother forbade her from hanging out with Veronica, explaining how she didn't like the way the Lodge family conducted their business. However, after the two families sat and talked it out, Veronica and Josie performed together at Veronica's confirmation ceremony. However, upon learning from Ethel the truth behind the Lodges, Josie parted ways with Veronica. Much later, Josie helped Veronica and Toni find information about Cheryl, which caused their rocky relationship to steady.

### Kevin Keller

 File:RD-Caps-2x16-Primary-Colors-19-Josie-Kevin.jpg
The friendship between Josie and Kevin has grown since the two of them discovered that their parents were having an affair due to Josie's father constantly being on the road and Kevin's mother being overseas. Sharing nearly identical household drama, the two have begun to spend more time together both in and out of school, such as sitting together at lunch and going to the movies. Before then, Josie and Kevin had very little interaction though they always appeared to be friendly towards one another given that they ran within the same circle of friends.

### Reggie Mantle

 File:RD-Caps-2x22-Brave-New-World-37-Reggie-Josie.jpg
Josie and Reggie grew closer while students at Riverdale High. Their relationship didn't take off until the night they both attended Nick St. Clair's party at the Five Seasons, where they took Jingle Jangle together before making out. Later, after being exposed to using Jingle Jangle during the aforementioned party, they were sent to do community service in Pickens Park, where Reggie seemed to take an interest in Josie. They later joined forces to run for Student Body President and Vice President. After they decided to leave the campaign, each with their own reasons, they've since remained close.

### Sweet Pea

 File:RD-Caps-3x01-Labor-Day-55-Josie-Sweet-Pea.jpg
After Archie is arrested, Josie and Sweet Pea start a summer fling with one condition: a 3-month expiration. Sweet Pea wished for more, but Josie declined his offer as she needed to remain focused on music. It was, however, revealed that Josie and Sweet Pea kept hooking up despite their fling's initial expiration date. Josie asked Sweet Pea to accompany her as her date in Sierra’s and Tom’s forthcoming wedding. Sweet Pea, who wanted a real relationship with Josie, declined her invitation as she didn't want a serious relationship. During the party at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy compound, organized by Evelyn Evernever, Sweet Pea spotted Josie and Archie having an intimate moment. Deeply hurt, Sweet Pea spilled the secrecy of Josie and Archie’s relationship.

### Katy Keene

 File:KK-Caps-1x04-Here-Comes-the-Sun-80-Josie-Katy.png
Josie met Katy through Veronica, who was friends with Katy prior to moving to Riverdale. Josie was welcomed by Katie with open arms. They became fast friends upon her moving in with Katy and Jorge. Despite just having met Josie, Katy had become very protective of her. Katy posed as Josie's manager when she planned to meet with Alex to talk about possibly representing her. And though, they've had disagreements, their bond has only continued to grow.

### Alexander Cabot

 File:KK-Caps-1x09-Wishin-&-a-Hopin-88-Josie-Alexander.png
Josie first met Alex while she was performing in a park. He noticed her talent and approached her with an opportunity to record in a studio and realize her dreams. Alex hoped that Josie could help him relaunch the Cabot Entertainment record label. However, Josie was turned down by the board, primarily Xandra. From there, Alex became Josie's manager and began investing his own time and money into her as he truly believed in her. This lead to a blossoming relationship that ended with Alex being checked into rehab as his substance addiction began to manifest.

### Alexandra Cabot

 File:KK-Caps-1x10-Gloria-19-Alexandra-Josie.png
Josie's first encounter with Xandra was at the studio, where she was turned down by the Cabot board. Though she admits that Josie has a nice voice, she didn't wish to re-launch the record division behind Josie as her talent wasn't "undeniable." Xandra's dislike for Josie comes from her relationship with Alex, for who Xandra still harbors feelings for him. Due to resolved feelings, Xandra and Josie engaged in a back and forth battle between, often instigated by Xandra. From there, Xandra continued her pursuit to derail Josie by buying Chubby's Record Shop, thus making Josie her employee. Her biggest move against Josie was arguably stealing her song and Josie and the Pussycats, and re-branding the group as Xandra and the Kitty Cats.

## Trivia

* Josie is named after the famous French singer Template:Wikipedia.
	+ The comic character is, instead, inspired by and named after model Josette Dumont, wife of cartoonist Template:Wikipedia who created the character.
* She has defied her mother's wishes multiple times despite being constantly reminded to not forget their branding; Divas of color. Josie allowed Cheryl to perform alongside the Pussycats and also decided to accompany Archie at singing his song at the jubilee.
* Josie did not seem to have to audition for a position on the River Vixens, as Cheryl had introduced her as a new member almost immediately.
* Josie is the first character to appear in both *Riverdale* and *Katy Keene*.
* In Archie Comics, Josie is a short-haired redhead and her surname was either given as Jones or James until the Archie Comics acknowledged the surname McCoy as canonical after the 2001 film by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, loosely based on both comics and Hanna-Barbera Productions animated versions.
* Josie's date with Chuck Clayton at Pop's shoppe in Template:Ep is reminiscent of the one she had with Reggie Mantle in the fifth issue of *Riverdale* comics.
	+ However, and notably, in the Archie Comics, Reggie had a crush on Josie, much like his counterpart in the series.
* In the Archie Comics, Josie McCoy and Alexandra Cabot are rivals because Alexandra is extremely jealous of Josie.
* In Template:Ep, Cheryl's laptop displays two prominent emails sharing the news that Josie has been nominated for four Grammys. The news email, forwarded by Kevin, also describes her as a "Superstar."

## References

1. ↑ *Riverdale pilot fills out cast* - EW
2. ↑ Riverdale’s’ Ashleigh Murray Joins ‘Katy Keene’ Pilot at CW