Queen Latifah Biography and Net Worth

Dana Elaine Owens popularly known by her stage name as Queen Latifah is a famous American female rapper, singer, songwriter, recording artiste, actress and a producer. She was born on 18th March 1970 in Newark, New Jersey in the United States of America. She is currently 48 years old.

She signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album “All Hail the Queen” the same year, featuring the hit single like “Ladies First”. She lived primarily in East Orange, New Jersey in the United States of America. She is the daughter of Rita, a teacher at Irvington High School and also the daughter of Lancelot Owens, a police officer.

Queen Latifah attended Essex Catholic Girls’ High School in Irvington, but graduated from Irvington High School both in Newark, New Jersey in the United States of America. After completing her high school, Queen Latifah attended Borough of Manhattan Community College in New Jersey in the United States of America. 

Her parents divorced when she was just 10 years old. Queen Latifah was raised in the Baptist faith and attended Catholic school in Newark, New Jersey in the United States of America. She found her stage name “Latifah” meaning “delicate” and “very kind” in Arabic, in a book of Arabic names when she was just 8 years old.

Queen Latifah was a power forward on her high school basketball team. She performed the number “Home” from the musical “The Wiz” in a grammar school play. Queen Latifah currently resides in Beverly Hills, California in the United States of America. She has released several albums which include All Hail the Queen, Black Reign, Nature of a Sista, and many more.

She has won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Award. In 1989, she signed a record deal with Tommy Boy Records and released her first debut studio album “All Hail the Queen” the same year, featuring hit single like “Ladies First”. In 1991, she released her second debut studio album “Nature of a Sista” under Tommy Boy Records.

From 1993 to 1998, Queen Latifah starred as Khadijah James on the FOX sitcom “Living Single”. Her third debut studio album “Black Reign” was released in 1993 and spawned hit single “U.N.I.T.Y” which later won her a Grammy Award and was successful on the Billboard Hot 100. She then starred as a lead role in the movie “Set It Off” in 1996.

In 1998, she released her fourth debut studio album “Order in the Court” under Motown Records. Queen Latifah gained mainstream success and acclaim with her performance in the film “Chicago” in 2002, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2004, Queen Latifah released her fifth debut studio album “The Dana Owens Album”. In 2007 and 2009 respectively, she released two more studio albums namely; “Trav’lin’ Light and Persona”. She created the daytime talk show “The Queen Latifah Show” which ran from late 2013 to early 2015 on CBS.

Queen Latifah has appeared in a number of films, such as Bringing Down the House, Taxi, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Beauty Shop, Last Holiday, Hairspray, Joyful Noise, 22 Jump Street, Girls Trip, amongst others.

In 2015, Queen Latifah received critical acclaim for her portrayal of blues singer Bessie Smith in the HBO film “Bessie” which she co-produced, which later won her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie. Since 2016, she has starred as Carlotta Brown in the musical drama series “Star”.

Queen Latifah has long been considered as one of hip-hop’s pioneer feminists. In 2006, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Queen Latifah’s work in music, film and television has earned her a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Award, two NAACP Image Awards, an Academy Award nomination and a sales of over two million records worldwide.

Queen Latifah is currently one of the richest and most influential female hip hop rapper, actress and artist in the United States of America with an estimated net worth of $60 million.