Queen Latifah

Dana Elaine Owens was born on March 18, 1970 in Newark, New Jersey. She is a Grammy-winning American rapper/singer, model, and Academy Award-nominated actress. She is better known as Queen Latifah.

One of the first female stars of hip-hop, Queen Latifah's first album, All Hail the Queen (1989), proved that there was room for feminism in rap. After establishing herself as a rapper, she moved into acting, appearing in a small role in Spike Lee's movie Jungle Fever (1991), 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). 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). Her other films include Beauty Shop (2005) and Last Holiday (2006).