Nevermind, I found it. It's Debbie Gibson and the background singers are African-American. All these years, I thought it was probably Whitney Houston. My memory of the song was kinda fuzzy. I haven't heard it in years.
After hearing it again, she actually sounds more like Madonna and Cathy Dennis...
It took me 2 days to find this. I had a feeling it would be an artist that I didn't expect. I had to go on WhoSampled to see every artist who made "Sleigh Ride" in the 90's.
Also, I'm surprised that this song doesn't have a million views even though it gets a lot of radio-play.
The search is over.