Dana Elaine Owens is better known as Queen Latifah. The work of this rapper, singer and American actress has earned her a Grammy and five other nominations for these awards, an Emmy nomination and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Queen Latifah, whose real name Dana Owens, was born in Newark, New Jersey (USA). In the mid-80s, she entered the environment by participating in the cool musical group Ladies and then she decided to go solo and release the first album in 1989 “All Hail the Queen”.

By intervening in the world of rap then reserved for boys, Queen Latifah causing a true revolution, but to become a success. As of 1991, she is also interested in film and receives some interesting functions as the second place in “Jugo”, “Mi vida” or “Sphere”.

She manages to establish her career as an actress and singer without luck and in 1993, third album shows that for the good “Black Kingdom”. Her role in “Chicago” in 2002, provides critical acclaim and allows access to increasingly important performances.

Early Years

She was born on March 19, 1970 in Newark, New Jersey (United States). Queen Latifah is an American actress and singer named Dana Elaine Owens. Daughter of Rita Owens, who died in 2018, and policeman Lance Owens. She had a brother named Lance, also a policeman, who died in 1992 due to a motorcycle accident that Dana bought for him. She worked in a hamburger chain and achieved success in hip hop and rap music before becoming a film actress in the early 90s, when she also starred in the TV series “Living Single”.

Your first film in the movies was “Wild Fever” (1991) by Spike Lee. She later shared credits with Nicole Kidman and Michael Keaton in “My Life” (1993), and accompanied Dustin Hoffman and Sharon Stone in the sci-fi film “Sphere” (1998). In 1996, Latifah was arrested for possession of weapons and marijuana.

In the romantic comedy “Perfect Move” (2010) played a physiotherapist who falls in love with an NBA player. Later she intervened as a waitress in the drama “Los Milagros Del Cielo” (2016). In the year 2017 she premiered the comedy “Plan De Chicas”, a movie in which she shared credits with Jada Pinkett Smith or Regina Hall.

As for her sexuality, Queen Latifah has been rumored of relationships with both men and women, including musical entrepreneur Kendu Isaacs and fitness expert Jeanette Jenkins. Practice yoga as usual. She has published books that mix self-help with autobiography, with titles like “Ladies First” (1998) or “Put on Your Crown” (2010).

In 2004, the Queen held two albums with different styles, one is very hip-hop and the other is more jazz oriented. In 2005, she represents for a collection of lingerie of large sizes, but the film does not abandon plays the same year in the “Beauty Salon” in 2007/08, is the poster of “Hairspray” and “Jackpot” and launched its sixth album “Trav’lin ‘Light.” No need to say beyond Queen Latifah’s energy.

Career Path

Dana Elaine Owens is born on March 18, 1970 in East Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of a teacher.  Dana Elaine Owens is better known as Queen Latifah. The work of this rapper, singer and American actress has earned her a Grammy and five other nominations for these awards, an Emmy nomination and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In June 2009 she confessed that she was sexually abused as a child by a teenager who had been hired to take care of her. “He raped me,” the actress and singer told Essence magazine. “I never told anyone, I buried it in my memory and stayed away from people.”

She is a pioneer in hip hop business, songwriter, actress, author, talk master. She looks back on the compulsory arrest for guns, firearms and marijuana possession and driving under the influence of alcohol, runs a label, an artist agency, conceives her own cosmetics series: What lacks a woman like Queen Latifah, the Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar nomination and owns a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? “Sleep!” She said in an interview with craveonline.com desperately expressed wish. “I’ve heard about this legendary thing people are talking about, especially those who do not seem to know a lot about it.”

Both the father and the big brother are cops: Dana is confronted with different perspectives on everyday life in big cities early on, which is reflected later in their lyrics and style. When Dana is eight years old, her parents split up. A cousin misses her nickname Latifah, an Arabic term for “tender” or “sensitive”. Dana is developing into a versatile child: in addition to her first musical appearances, she plays a major role in the school’s basketball team at high school times.

The hip hop fever spreads in the 80s and also gets Dana, whose career as an employee of a burger chain should not last. She takes on the alias Queen Latifah and enters the rap scene, first as a human beatbox for rap crew Ladies Fresh. In 1988 DJ Mark The 45 King, a producer, comes to ears with a demo tape, which she immediately plays in the hands of Fab Five Freddy, the host of “Yo! MTV Raps”. This establishes contact with Tommy Boy Records: As one of the first female MCs Queen Latifah has a record deal in the bag.

The debut single “Wrath of My Madness” from 1988 follows the first long player the following year. “All Hail the Queen” wins Latifah enthusiastic response from both fans and critics. She collaborates with De La Soul, Monie Love and KRS-One. Queen Latifah is part of the Flavor Unit with DJ Mark the 45 King. After Mark’s slide into drug addiction, she takes over the crew and transforms her into an artist agency.

The stable of Flavor Unit Entertainment includes Naughty by Nature, LL Cool J, Monica and SWV. In addition, Queen Latifah is one of the most prominent members of the Native Tongues Family, which sets with positive, Afro-centric texts a counterpart to the rapidly spreading gangster rap.

In 1992, Queen Latifah replaces “Nature Of A Sista”. It will be her last album with Tommy Boy: The label prefers not to extend their contract. “Black Reign” appears in 1993 under the traditional roof of Motown and contains “U.N.I.T.Y.” the single Queen Latifah enters a Grammy for Best Solo Rap Performance. Also in 1993, Latifah founded Flavor Unit Records own label.

The music, however, is not Latifah’s only mainstay: she also relies on acting. She takes over the first roles in the early 90s: She can be seen in Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever”, in “Juice” or “House Party 2”. From 1993, Queen Latifah plays the lead role in the TV sitcom “Living Single”, which airs until 1998, and to which she also contributes the theme music.

In “Set It Off” she plays the role of a lesbian woman, which often leads to speculation about her sexual orientation. “Can a woman not be strong, confident and competent, run her own business, get on with her body, play a compelling role in a movie, know what she wants and how she gets it without being homosexual?”, she gets excited in her autobiography. “Come on!” Nevertheless, the lesbian and gay movement in Queen Latifah always has a strong representative.

The biography was published in 1999 under the title “Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman”. Among other things, Queen Latifah deals with the death of her brother, who died in a motorcycle accident, and her subsequent personal depression, including depression and drug addiction. With “Queen of the Scene” Latifah wrote another book in 2006, this time destined for the hands of children.

The actress, singer and composer, Dana Elaine Owens, better known as Queen Latifah, was born on March 18, 1970 in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Her father and older brother were policemen, the latter died in an accident with a motorcycle that she had given him. The guilt was so great that it caused a strong depression and led her to consume different drugs.

Latifah took, for some years, hung around her neck, the key to the bike and dedicated her hit Black Reign. At 18 she started working with “Ladies Fresh”, in 1988 she released her first single, “Wrath of My Madness” and in 1989 her first LP, “All Hail the Queen”. Soon she became one of the most recognized female hip-hop artists. She has promoted different artists through her company Flavor Unit, founded together with her partner Shakim Compere.

She has been nominated three times for the Grammys, winning in 1994 the Grammy as the best rap soloist. In 1991 she debuted on the big screen with the film Fever Wild and in 2003 was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Matron Mama Morton in Chicago.

Among her latest projects are the television series Star and the movies King of the South and The Trap. In 2009 she declared that she had suffered sexual abuse as a child and in 2012 she confirmed her homosexuality. Her net worth is estimated at around 60$ million.

Personal life

Queen Latifah, “The first lady of hip-hop” (despite the fact that some attribute this title to Roxanne Shanté), the woman behind the pseudonym is Dana Owens, who was born on March 18, 1970 in East Orange, New Jersey. She comes from a family of policemen, both her father and her older brother belong to the force, which would influence her in her lifestyle and her compositions.

After a brief stint as a Burger King employee, she got into the hip-hop scene. She was nominated four times for the Grammy Award, and got it for the Best Rap Solo in 1994. Her name means “delicate and sensitive” in Arabic. She is one of the most prominent artists in the hip-hop scene, for more than a decade.

Queen Latifah has also made a tremendous career in film, television and artist representation through her company Flavor Unit, along with her partner Shakim Compere. From 1993 to 1998, Latifah played a leading role in Living Single, a Fox sitcom; being his, in addition, the soundtrack of the same.

He also appeared in the drama “Más extraño que la ficción” (2006) with Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson and Will Ferrell among others; and in a remake of “Hairspray” (2007), playing Motormouth Maybelle with John Travolta.

Among her next works are “The Perfect Holiday” (2007) with Terrence Howard; “Mad Money” (2008) with Diane Keaton, Ted Danson and Katie Holmes; “What Happens in Vegas …” (2008), with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher; “The Secret Life of Bees” (2008) with Dakota Fanning and lend her voice again for the third part of “Ice Age, in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”. In 2007, she received an Emmy nomination for her work in the television series Life Support.

Latifah is the image of the Cover Girl cosmetics company, the Curvation ladies underwear, and Pizza Hut. She has designed her own line of cosmetics for women of color called Cover girl Queen Collection and has starred in numerous advertisements for the brand.

He had her own confession program, e Queen Latifah Show, from 1999 to 2001. Latifah’s older brother, Lance, died in an accident with a motorcycle she had given him. Latifah carried the motorcycle keys around her neck for years thereafter. I also dedicate her hit “Black Reign”.

In 1993, Latifah was the victim of an assault on her car, resulting in a shot for a friend of her who was in the passenger seat. In 1996, she was arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana and a loaded gun, resulting in a fine and a two-year probation.

In her autobiography, Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman (1999), Latifah discovers how the death of her brother leads to a strong depression and drug consumption, which has been rehabilitated.

Quick summary

Full name: Dana Owens

Date of birth: March 18, 1970

Birthplace: Newark, New Jersey, U.S

Age: 49

Profession: Actress, Singer

Height: 1.77m

Weight: 82 kg

Net Worth: 60$ million