Skip to content
— CH. 1 · DANA OWENS IN NEWARK —

Queen Latifah

~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
7 sections

  • Dana Elaine Owens arrived in the world on the 18th of March 1970 within the city limits of Newark, New Jersey. Her childhood unfolded primarily in nearby East Orange where she lived with her mother Rita Lamae and father Lancelot Amos Owens. The family structure shifted when her parents divorced during her tenth year. She attended Catholic school before graduating from Irvington High School. A power forward on her high school basketball team, Dana stood tall among her peers. At age eight she found a book containing Arabic names and selected Latifah to mean delicate or very kind. This choice became the foundation for her future stage identity.

  • At nineteen years old Dana released her debut album All Hail the Queen through Tommy Boy Records in 1989. The record featured the hit single Ladies First which became the first collaborative track by two female rappers not in a group. Monie Love appeared alongside her on that track. Her third album Black Reign received gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America in 1993. That project spawned the Grammy Award winning song U.N.I.T.Y. which reached the top forty on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The lyrics addressed violence against women and the objectification of Black female sexuality. DJ King Gemini made a demo recording of her rap song Princess of the Posse which he gave to Fab 5 Freddy. The host of Yo! MTV Raps passed the tape to Dante Ross who signed Latifah to the label.

  • From 1993 until 1998 Latifah starred as Khadijah James on the Fox sitcom Living Single. Her mother Rita played her mother on screen during those five seasons. She wrote and performed the theme song for the show. In 1996 she landed a leading role in the action film Set It Off. Her portrayal of Matron Mama Morton in the musical film Chicago earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2002. Catherine Zeta-Jones won the award instead but Latifah became the first woman in hip-hop to earn an Oscar nomination. She also starred with Steve Martin in Bringing Down the House that same year. The film was a major success at the box office.

  • After Order in the Court released by Motown Records in 1998 Latifah shifted primarily to singing soul music and jazz standards. She released The Dana Owens Album in 2004 featuring traditional vocal performances. On the 11th of July 2007 she sang at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as the headlining act. A crowd of more than 12,400 people watched her perform backed by a ten-piece live orchestra and three backup vocalists. The Queen Latifah Orchestra billed new arrangements including California Dreaming which had been made popular by the Mamas & the Papas in the 1960s. Jill Scott Erykah Badu Joe Sample George Duke Christian McBride and Stevie Wonder made guest appearances on her 2007 album Trav'lin Light. That album received a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category.

  • Latifah founded Flavor Unit Records in 1995 alongside business partner Shakim Compere. The label eventually became Flavor Unit Entertainment operating as a full service multimedia company. Her first artist to create a single with the label was Daddy D. Several music artists joined because they easily identified her success from an artist herself to a self-made label chief. The label remained quite small in the nineties but gained traction as Queen Latifah gained more attention. She created the daytime talk show The Queen Latifah Show which ran from 1999 to 2001 and again from 2013 to 2015 in syndication. Sony Pictures Television canceled the series on the 21st of November 2014 due to declining ratings. Production closed down taking effect on the 18th of December 2014 leaving new episodes that were broadcast until the 6th of March 2015.

  • Her older brother Lancelot Jr. died in 1992 in an accident involving a motorcycle she had purchased for him. A 2006 interview revealed she still wore the key to the motorcycle around her neck visible throughout her performance in Living Single. In 1995 she was the victim of a carjacking resulting in the non-fatal shooting of her bodyguard Sean Moon. She faced legal issues including an arrest in 1996 charged with possession of marijuana and a loaded handgun. Another arrest occurred in 2002 for driving under the influence in Los Angeles County. Her mother Rita Owens died on the 21st of March 2018 due to heart failure after battling the issue since 2004. At the BET Awards 2021 during her acceptance speech for the Lifetime Achievement Award she publicly acknowledged her female partner Eboni Nichols and son Rebel for the first time ending the speech with Happy Pride.

  • Queen Latifah became the first hip-hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the 4th of January 2006 located at 6915 Hollywood Blvd. Her debut album All Hail the Queen entered the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2023 making it the earliest female rap recording to enter that registry. She received six Grammy nominations winning one award for U.N.I.T.Y. The Root ranked her number 35 on The Root 100 list. In 2017 American Black Film Festival honored her with the Entertainment Icon award. Harvard University awarded the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal to Queen Latifah in 2019 for contributions to black history and culture. In 2023 she became the first female rapper to be a Kennedy Center honoree. She is also an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority as of the 9th of July 2025.

Continue Browsing

1970 births20th-century African-American actresses20th-century African-American women singers20th-century American actresses20th-century American LGBTQ people20th-century American rappers20th-century American women rappers21st-century African-American actresses21st-century African-American businesspeople21st-century African-American rappers21st-century African-American women rappers21st-century American actresses21st-century American comedians21st-century American LGBTQ people21st-century American rappers21st-century American women rappers21st-century American women singersA&M Records artistsActresses from East Orange, New JerseyActresses from Monmouth County, New JerseyActresses from Newark, New JerseyAfrican-American businesswomenAfrican-American ChristiansAfrican-American comediansAfrican-American female modelsAfrican-American feministsAfrican-American LGBTQ peopleAfrican-American rappersAfrican-American television producersAfrican-American women comediansAfrican-American women singer-songwritersAmerican businesspeople in fashionAmerican businesspeople in the cosmetics industryAmerican contemporary R&B singersAmerican dance musiciansAmerican feminist musiciansAmerican film actressesAmerican gospel singersAmerican hip-hop singersAmerican jazz singersAmerican LGBTQ actressesAmerican LGBTQ businesspeopleAmerican LGBTQ comediansAmerican LGBTQ rappersAmerican LGBTQ songwritersAmerican rhythm and blues singer-songwritersAmerican soul singersAmerican television actressesAmerican television talk show hostsAmerican voice actressesAmerican women comediansAmerican women jazz singersAmerican women singer-songwritersAmerican women television producersBaptists from New JerseyBest Miniseries or Television Movie Actress Golden Globe winnersBorough of Manhattan Community College alumniBusinesspeople from Monmouth County, New JerseyBusinesspeople from Newark, New JerseyComedians from Monmouth County, New JerseyComedians from Newark, New JerseyDelta Sigma Theta membersEast Coast hip-hop musiciansEntertainers from Irvington, New JerseyFeminist rappersGrammy Award winners for rap musicInterscope Records artistsIrvington High School (New Jersey) alumniLGBTQ hip-hop musiciansLGBTQ people from New JerseyLGBTQ women singersLGBTQ women writersMotown artistsMusicians from East Orange, New JerseyNative Tongues membersOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winnersOutstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winnersPeople from Colts Neck Township, New JerseyPeople from Rumson, New JerseyPrimetime Emmy Award winnersProgressive rappersRappers from Newark, New JerseySinger-songwriters from New JerseySinger-songwriters from New York (state)Television producers from New JerseyTommy Boy Records artistsVerve Records artists

Common questions

When and where was Queen Latifah born?

Dana Elaine Owens arrived in the world on the 18th of March 1970 within the city limits of Newark, New Jersey. Her childhood unfolded primarily in nearby East Orange where she lived with her mother Rita Lamae and father Lancelot Amos Owens.

What album did Queen Latifah release in 1989 and what hit single did it feature?

At nineteen years old Dana released her debut album All Hail the Queen through Tommy Boy Records in 1989. The record featured the hit single Ladies First which became the first collaborative track by two female rappers not in a group.

Which role earned Queen Latifah an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress?

Her portrayal of Matron Mama Morton in the musical film Chicago earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2002. Catherine Zeta-Jones won the award instead but Latifah became the first woman in hip-hop to earn an Oscar nomination.

Who are some guest artists that appeared on Queen Latifah's 2007 album Trav'lin Light?

Jill Scott Erykah Badu Joe Sample George Duke Christian McBride and Stevie Wonder made guest appearances on her 2007 album Trav'lin Light. That album received a Grammy nomination in the Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album category.

When was Queen Latifah honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

Queen Latifah became the first hip-hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on the 4th of January 2006 located at 6915 Hollywood Blvd. Her debut album All Hail the Queen entered the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2023 making it the earliest female rap recording to enter that registry.

See all questions about Queen Latifah →