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Queen Latifah is a Grammy® award-winning musician, critically acclaimed television and Oscar®-nominated film actress, producer, record label president, author, and entrepreneur. Queen Latifah has had amazing success since her career began in Hollywood, becoming the first hip hop artist to be crowned with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. She received rave reviews, an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe® nomination, and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards® nomination for her portrayal of Mama Morton in the feature musical Chicago. She also received an Emmy® Award nomination, a Golden Globe® win, and a SAG Award® win for her role in the cable film Life Support. Queen Latifah currently stars in and executive produces the CBS series The Equalizer. She most recently received a National Medal of the Arts from the United States Government and was a 2023 honoree at the 46th annual Kennedy Center Honors.

Making her big screen debut in Spike Lee’s 1991 film, Jungle Fever, Queen Latifah then starred in Set It Off and co-starred with Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito in the critically acclaimed Living Out Loud. From 1993-1998, Latifah starred in the network comedy Living Single. Following Chicago, she starred in and executive-produced the box office hit Bringing Down the House. Her additional film credits include The Secret Life of Bees, alongside Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning; Neil Meron and Craig Zadan’s Hairspray; Mad Money, opposite Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes; Just Wright; Joyful Noise; The Last Holiday; and Beauty Shop. She also starred in and executive-produced the cable movie Life Support and the cable movie adaptation of Steel Magnolias.

In May 2015, Queen Latifah made her way back to the small screen, earning an Emmy® Award nomination, Golden Globe® nomination and a SAG Award® for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for her role in the cable film Bessie, which she also produced. Recognition for Queen Latifah’s recording artistry includes six Grammy® Award nominations, as well as a win for Best Solo Rap Performance in 1994. In 2004, she was nominated for Best Female Rap Solo Performance for “Go Head.” In 2005, she was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album for The Dana Owens Album, and in 2008, she was nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Trav’lin Light.

Recent Kennedy Center history: Queen Latifah performed most recently at the Kennedy Center for a Bridge Concert series program in 2019. Additionally, she was among the guest cast for three prior Kennedy Center Honorees, a tribute to Tina Turner (2005), Barbra Streisand (2008), and LL Cool J (2017).