Hill, Lauryn (1975– )

US musician. Her debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) achieved massive chart success and critical recognition, and she won five Grammy Awards in 1999. Credited with fusing the sounds of rap, hip-hop, and reggae, and bringing it to the mainstream of popular music, she began her career with the hip-hop group the Fugees. She has also appeared in several films, including Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993).

She formed the Fugees with Pras (Prakazrel) Michel (1972– ) and Wyclef Jean (1972– ) in 1987. The name of the band is a contraction of ‘refugees’, alluding to the plight of Haitian refugees (both Pras and Wyclef were born in Haiti). Their second album, The Score (1997), sold over 5 million copies worldwide, and the group won a Grammy Award in 1996 for a single from the album, ‘Killing me Softly’. After the success of this album, all the members of the group embarked on solo projects. She released the solo acoustic album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 in 2002.

Born in South Orange, New Jersey, Hill took an early interest in music. She sang in a gospel choir and performed at amateur night at the Apollo Theater in New York at the age of 13.