Keke Palmer

• 1. Introduction

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  Keke Palmer's famous nickname has nothing to do with her real name. Lauren Keyana Palmer took it from an imaginary friend called Keke, invented by her older sister, Loreal, before Palmer was even born. In an interview with Glamour in 2022, she said she prefers to go by Lauren. She added that she would like to be called by her given name more than anything. The American actress, singer and television host has won two Primetime Emmy Awards. She has also been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. How did a girl from the suburbs of Chicago end up working in sitcoms, on Broadway, in pop music and behind a game show desk? And how does a performer who started as a child keep finding new kinds of work as an adult?

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• 2. Robbins to Akeelah

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  Palmer was born on the 26th of August 1993 in Harvey, Illinois, and raised in nearby Robbins. She grew up in a Catholic household. Her parents, Sharon and Lawrence, known as Larry, met in drama school. Both had worked as professional actors before settling into full-time jobs. Her father, a Catholic deacon, works for a polyurethane company. Her mother is a high school teacher who works with autistic children.

  Palmer first sang in a church. She also performed in a stage show at a Chicago tourist destination. In 2002, at the age of nine, she auditioned for a stage production of The Lion King.

  In 2004 she made her film debut in Barbershop 2: Back in Business, playing Gina's niece. In 2005 she signed a record deal with Atlantic Records. That same year she appeared in the television film Knights of the South Bronx and in the series Second Time Around and ER. Producer Ralph Farquhar helped her win the starring role in a Disney Channel pilot titled Keke and Jamal. The pilot was never picked up and never aired.

  The breakthrough came in 2006 with Akeelah and the Bee. Palmer played Akeelah, a bright 11-year-old from a poor neighborhood who competes in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times wrote that Palmer "makes an appealing heroine". The role earned her a Black Reel Award and an NAACP Image Award. She also took a supporting part that year in Madea's Family Reunion. Two years later, a Nickelodeon sitcom would give her top billing.

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• 3. True Jackson Years

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  In 2008, Palmer began playing the title character in the Nickelodeon sitcom True Jackson, VP. She also wrote and performed the show's theme song. She earned $20,000 per episode, which made her the fourth-highest-paid child star on television. In July 2009, designer Jane Siskin created a Walmart fashion line inspired by the series. Palmer approved every design. The sitcom ended in 2011.

  The year before the sitcom began had already been busy. In 2007 she played a lead role in the television film Jump In! and appeared in the thriller Cleaner. She also guest starred on Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Just Jordan. In 2008 she took the lead in the film The Longshots, playing Jasmine Plummer.

  From 2011 to 2014, Palmer voiced Aisha in Nickelodeon's revival of Winx Club. That work earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination. In 2012 she starred in Joyful Noise, which was released in January of that year. She also produced and starred in Rags, a television musical film. The same year she voiced Peaches in Ice Age: Continental Drift. She would voice Peaches again in Ice Age: Collision Course in 2016.

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• 4. The Music Career

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  On the 18th of September 2007, Palmer released her debut album, So Uncool. It charted at number 86 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. One description called it "bright, bouncy, and melodic enough to appeal to teens and pre-teens". The album leaned heavily on contemporary R&B. Her influences include Ciara, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, Brandy, Mary J. Blige and Whitney Houston, along with the girl group TLC. She also cites the pop artists Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavigne. That year she co-headlined the Radio Disney Jingle Jam with Mitchel Musso and Drew Seeley, and she headlined the Footworkin' Concert Tour.

  In July 2012, Palmer released the single "You Got Me", featuring Kevin McCall. Its video arrived on the 11th of July. A self-titled mixtape, Keke Palmer, followed on the 1st of October 2012. In 2015 she announced a deal with Island Records. In June 2016 she released Waited to Exhale, an album she had written during her True Jackson years. It had sat unreleased because of label issues and her "anxiety-driven hesitance". On the 4th of November 2016 she released the extended play Lauren, alongside a 17-minute short film of the same name. The film was shown exclusively on the website of Billboard.

  In 2019, Palmer sang "Giants" as part of True Damage, a virtual group from the video game League of Legends. She voices a character named Senna in the group. The song was made for the 2019 World Championship and features the singers Becky G and Soyeon and the rappers Duckwrth and Thutmose. In November, the group performed it live during the opening ceremony of the finals.

  On the 28th of August 2020, Palmer released the extended play Virgo Tendencies, Pt. 1. She followed it with Pt. 2 that December. Her later studio albums are Big Boss, released in 2023 with a tour of the same name, and Just Keke, released in 2025. In June 2024 she started a girl group called DivaGurl. Like Nicole Scherzinger in The Pussycat Dolls, Palmer is its lead singer.

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• 5. Stage and Screen Reinvention

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  In October 2013, VH1 aired CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, with Palmer playing Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. The film marked her move toward mainstream roles. On the 17th of June 2014, her horror film Animal was released. She then recurred in the second season of Showtime's Masters of Sex, portraying Coral, a nanny.

  In September 2014, Palmer became the first African American to star as the title character in the Broadway musical Cinderella. She played Ella in the Rodgers + Hammerstein production. She gave her final performance on closing night, the 4th of January 2015.

  From September 2015 to December 2016, she starred as Zayday Williams in the horror comedy series Scream Queens, created by Ryan Murphy. In January 2016 she played Marty Maraschino in the television special Grease: Live. Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone called her performance "a standout" and praised her "assertiveness, confidence and biting sense of humor".

  In 2017, Palmer joined the drama series Berlin Station during its second season. In 2019 she became a regular on the slasher series Scream in its third season, playing Kym Johnson. That season premiered on the 8th of July 2019. In September she appeared in the crime drama Hustlers, directed by Lorene Scafaria. She played a "lovestruck stripper". By then she had already begun guest co-hosting an ABC daytime talk show.

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• 6. The Talk Show Chair

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  In 2014, Palmer hosted Just Keke, a daytime talk show on BET. She became one of the youngest talk show hosts in television history. The show itself has been described as "groundbreaking" and "refreshing".

  In April 2019, she began guest co-hosting ABC's Strahan and Sara, filling in sporadically for Michael Strahan. From June she appeared more regularly while co-host Sara Haines was on maternity leave. On the 26th of August 2019, she became a permanent third co-host, and the show was retitled Strahan, Sara and Keke. It ended unexpectedly in March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic had halted live studio programming across the industry, and ABC decided to shift the timeslot toward news. Palmer, Haines and Strahan were nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host.

  On the 30th of August 2020, Palmer hosted the MTV Video Music Awards, where she also performed her song "Snack". In 2021 she briefly hosted a reboot of the MTV dating show Singled Out for the short-lived streaming service Quibi, with Joel Kim Booster as co-host. That year she also hosted the reality competition series Foodtastic for Disney+.

  In August 2022, she debuted as host of an NBC reboot of the game show Password. Jimmy Fallon serves as executive producer and permanent celebrity guest. On the 3rd of December 2022, while hosting Saturday Night Live, she announced that she was expecting her first child. Her son was born in February 2023. In 2026 she appeared for two episodes of American Idol as a guest mentor.

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• 7. Emmys and Nope

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  In 2020, Palmer began starring in a web comedy series called Turnt Up with the Taylors, in which she plays every character. In 2021 the performance won her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.

  The year 2022 was crowded. Alice, directed by Krystin Ver Linden, had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Palmer narrated Not So Pretty, an HBO Max documentary on the beauty industry directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. She voiced Izzy Hawthorne in Lightyear, the Pixar spinoff of the Toy Story films. For the last three episodes of Karma's World in September, she voiced Cece Dupree, a conniving and ruthless rapper.

  In Nope, the science-fiction horror film directed by Jordan Peele, she played Emerald Haywood. The performance drew critical attention and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress.

  On the 9th of February 2023, it was announced that she would star alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in Super Toys, a 1970s period piece directed by David O. Russell. In June 2023 she was invited to join the Academy as an actor. On the 16th of August 2023, Usher's music video for his single "Boyfriend" was released, with Palmer in the starring role. In 2025 she co-headlined One of Them Days alongside SZA and received widespread critical acclaim. She also served as an executive producer on that film. In 2026 she took a main role, and an executive producer credit, on the series The 'Burbs.

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• 8. Beyond the Screen

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  In 2021, Palmer launched KeyTV Network, an online entertainment platform. She also hosts her own podcast, Baby, This is Keke Palmer.

  On the 31st of January 2017, she published her first book, the memoir I Don't Belong to You: Quiet the Noise and Find Your Voice. In November 2024 she released a second book, Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative, a hybrid memoir and self-help manual. It debuted at number thirteen on the Publishers Weekly Bestseller List, selling 9,163 units in its first week.

  Palmer works with the Cool To Be Smart program of the Boys' and Girls' Clubs, speaking to children about the importance of learning. She supports Urban Farming and the Girl Scouts and has worked with the YWCA and Saving Our Daughters. As of 2010, she has represented the Saving Our Daughters anti-bullying campaign.

  She is also a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. In 2020 she marched in Hollywood, California, as part of the George Floyd protests. That year she addressed the movement in her opening monologue at the MTV Video Music Awards.

  In November 2019, Time placed her on its 100 Next list. The list spotlights rising stars who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science and health.

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