Queen Latifah, << lah TEE fah >> (1970-…), is an American rap artist, music producer, and actress. She won the 1995 Grammy Award for best rap solo performance for the song “U.N.I.T.Y.,” which spoke out against the disrespectful treatment of women. Queen Latifah also won praise for her supporting role in the motion picture Chicago (2002).
Queen Latifah was born on March 18, 1970, in Newark, New Jersey. Her real name is Dana Elaine Owens. A cousin gave her the nickname “Latifah” when she was a teenager. The name is Arabic for delicate and sensitive. While in high school, Queen Latifah formed a rap group called Ladies Fresh.
Queen Latifah’s first single, “Wrath of My Madness,” was released in 1988. Her first album, All Hail the Queen, was released in 1989 to favorable reviews. Queen Latifah’s other rap and hip-hop albums included Nature of a Sista (1991), Black Reign (1993), and Order in the Court (1998). Queen Latifah turned to jazz, soul, and pop standards on her next two albums, The Dana Owens Album (2004) and Trav’lin’ Light (2007). She returned to hip-hop with the album Persona (2009).
Queen Latifah made her motion-picture acting debut in the urban drama Jungle Fever (1991). She also began acting on television in 1991 with a guest role on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Queen Latifah also starred in the TV series “Living Single” (1993-1998) and hosted the talk show “The Queen Latifah Show” (1999-2001). She began hosting another talk show called “The Queen Latifah Show” in 2013.
Queen Latifah’s other notable films include the crime dramas Juice (1992), Set It Off (1996), and The Bone Collector (1999); the romantic comedy Living Out Loud (1998); the comedies Bringing Down the House (2003), Beauty Shop (2005), and Joyful Noise (2012); the musical Hairspray (2007); the drama The Secret Life of Bees (2008); and the romantic comedies Valentine’s Day and Just Wright (both 2010). She also provided the voice of the character Ellie, a woolly mammoth, in the animated feature films Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) and Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012). Queen Latifah wrote an autobiography, Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman (1999).
