Queen Latifah (1970–)
Queen Latifah (1970–)
African-American musician. Name variations: Dana Owens, D. Owens. Born Dana Elaine Owens, Mar 18, 1970, in East Orange, NJ; dau. of Rita and Lance Owens (police officer).
The first lady of Hip-hop, was a high-school basketball star; released debut single, "The Wrath of My Madness" (1988); released album All Hail the Queen (1989), with hit "Ladies First," in answer to the prevailing misogynist scene, and was nominated for a Grammy and named Best Female Rapper of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine (1990); gained wider audience by appearing on David Bowie's remake of "Fame," and singing "For the Love of Money" on soundtrack of film New Jack City (1991); released gold-selling album, Black Reign (1993), with hit, "U.N.I.T.Y.," which won Grammy for Best Rap Performance (1994); starred in tv sitcom, "Living Single" (1993); released Order in the Court and toured with Lilith Fair Festival (1998); began hosting tv talk show, Queen Latifah (1999); appeared in such films as Set It Off (1996), The Bone Collector (1999), Taxi (2004) and Chicago (2002), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
See also autobiographical Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman (1999).