Latifah, Queen (1970– )

US vocalist, actor, and chat-show host. After establishing herself as a popular hip-hop artist in the early 1990s, she went on to host The Queen Latifah Show 1999–2001. She appeared in supporting roles in the musical adaptations Chicago (2002) and Hairspray (2007), and starred in the comedies Bringing Down the House (2003) and Beauty Shop (2005).

Her first album, All Hail the Queen (1989), featured the hip hop-singles ‘Wrath of My Madness’ and ‘Ladies First’. She followed with the rap albums Nature of a Sista (1991), Black Reign (1993), and Order in the Court (1998). The hit single ‘U.N.I.T.Y.’ from Black Reign won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Solo Rap Performance. The Dana Owens Album (2004) is a collection of jazz standards and Trav'lin Light (2007) crosses into popular easy listening.

Latifah was born in Newark and grew up in East Orange, New Jersey. She appeared in plays in high school and entered the rap scene as a teenager. Other films include the mystery thriller The Bone Collector (1999), the romantic comedy remake Last Holiday (2006), the comedy-drama Stranger than Fiction (2006), and the crime caper Mad Money (2008). She gained further exposure when she became a spokesperson for CoverGirl cosmetics in 2001 and the weight loss corporation Jenny Craig in 2008.