Queen Latifah Biography

One of the first female stars of hip-hop, Queen Latifah proved with her first album, All Hail the Queen (1989), that rap had room for feminism.

After establishing herself as a rapper, she moved into acting, appearing in a small role in Spike Lee‘s movie Jungle Fever (1991, starring Wesley Snipes), and more significant roles in Set it Off (1996) and Living Out Loud (1998).

She also became a television star during the 1990s, first in the sitcom Living Single (1993), then as the host of her own talk show (1999-2001).

And through it all, Queen Latifah was still making records and winning Grammys.

In 2003 she co-starred with Steve Martin in the feature film Bringing Down the House and she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Chicago (2002, starring Renee Zellweger).

Latifah’s other films include Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004, with Ice Cube), Beauty Shop (2005, with Alicia Silverstone), Last Holiday (2006, with Alicia Witt) and Hairspray (2007, with John Travolta).

In recent years, Queen Latifah has developed a career as a TV series and movie producer whose credits include the series Let’s Stay Together (2011-14), From the Bottom Up (2016), The Rap Game (2016-19), and Star (2018-19).

Her albums include Nature of a Sista (1991), Black Reign (1994) and Order in the Court, and her songs include “Ladies First” and “U.N.I.T.Y.”