Queen Latifah, born Dana Owens in Newark, New Jersey, is a crossover entertainment sensation. She's one of the few artists to make it as a hip-hop artist and promoter, an actor, a dancer, and a standards vocalist.

Latifah has won acclaim as a rapper from the moment she released her first hip-hop album, “All Hail the Queen” in 1989. She worked that success into a budding film career and a recurring role on a hit Fox sitcom, “Living Single.” She can play characters such as Matron Mama Morton of “Chicago” (for which she won an Academy Award nomination in 2003) with as much ease as she can slip into a shy romantic role like her performance in “Last Holiday.” She's built a fantastic reputation and is involved in a number of exciting upcoming projects.