Queen Latifah

Dana Elaine Owens, known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper and actress born on March 18, 1970. In 2006, she became the first hip-hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2026, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Over her career, Latifah has earned a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Actor Awards, and two NAACP Image Awards, along with an Academy Award nomination.

Latifah was born in Newark, New Jersey, and raised primarily in East Orange, New Jersey. She is the daughter of teacher Rita Lamae and police officer Lancelot Amos Owens. She chose her stage name Latifah, meaning "delicate" and "very kind" in Arabic, at age eight. A 5-foot-10-inch power forward in high school, she graduated from Irvington High School before attending classes at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Her musical career began beatboxing for Ladies Fresh and joining the Flavor Unit.

At age 19, Latifah released her debut album, All Hail the Queen (1989), featuring the single "Ladies First". Her 1993 third album, Black Reign, became the first solo female rap album certified gold by the RIAA. It produced the Grammy Award-winning single "U.N.I.T.Y.", which addressed violence against women and reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. She followed with Order in the Court in 1998, and later released The Dana Owens Album (2004), Trav'lin' Light (2007), and Persona (2009).

Latifah began acting in the early 1990s with roles in films such as House Party 2, Juice, Jungle Fever, and Set It Off. From 1993 to 1998, she starred as Khadijah James on the Fox sitcom Living Single, writing and performing its theme song. She also hosted the syndicated talk program The Queen Latifah Show, which ran from 1999 to 2001 and returned from 2013 to 2015.

Latifah achieved mainstream film prominence portraying Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago (2002), earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She subsequently starred in popular feature films including Bringing Down the House, Taxi, Beauty Shop, Last Holiday, Hairspray, Joyful Noise, and Girls Trip. Additionally, she has voiced the character Ellie in the Ice Age film series since 2006.

Latifah co-produced and starred as blues singer Bessie Smith in the HBO film Bessie (2015), winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. She later starred in the series Star from 2016 to 2019, portrayed Hattie McDaniel in the miniseries Hollywood (2020), and played the lead role on CBS's The Equalizer from 2021 through 2025. In late 2026, she will debut as a coach on NBC's The Voice.