What Is Queen Latifah's Net Worth?
Queen Latifah is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, model, television producer, record producer, comedienne, and talk show hostess who has a net worth of $70 million. Queen Latifah has enjoyed a very long, successful career that has spanned music, film, and television. When Beyonce was in diapers, Queen Latifah was tearing up the charts and appearing in high-profile projects, multi-tasking her way to superstardom. She started out as a hip-hop artist, beatboxing with the group Ladies Fresh and performing with Flavor Unit. She began to gain notice as a solo artist after her rap demo was passed to Fab 5 Freddy of "Yo! MTV Raps" fame. From there, she signed with Tommy Boy Records and released her first single and album in 1989. She also launched her acting career, appearing in such films as "House Party 2," "Juice," and "Jungle Fever" and starring in the hit sitcom "Living Single" for five years. Queen Latifah then shifted her musical focus somewhat and began performing jazz standards and ballads. She remained in this vein for much of the early and mid-2000s before returning to her hip-hop roots in 2008. She also began to appear in increasingly high-profile film projects, including, "Chicago," "Brown Sugar," "Bringing Down the House," "Beauty Shop," "Stranger Than Fiction," "Hairspray," "The Secret Life of Bees," and "Just Wright." She has also appeared in multiple successful television films, including "Life Support" and "Steel Magnolias." Along the way, she has won three SAG Awards, a Golden Globe Award, two NAACP Image Awards, a Grammy Award, and an Emmy Award. She has also been nominated for an Oscar and numerous other Grammy Awards. In 2021, Queen Latifah received the BET Lifetime Achievement Award.
Early Life
Queen Latifah was born Dana Elaine Owens on March 18, 1970, in Newark, New Jersey. She grew up primarily in East Orange, New Jersey. Her parents split when she was ten years old. Her stage name, Latifah, means "delicate" and "very kind" in Arabic. At 5'10", Latifah was a power forward on her high school girls' basketball team. After she graduated from Irvington High School, she took classes at Borough of Manhattan Community College.
Music Career
Latifah started beatboxing in the late '80s and got the notice of the host of "Yo! MTV Raps." She got the attention of Tommy Boy Music employee Dante Ross, who signed Latifah and, in 1988, issued her first single, "Wrath of My Madness." Latifah made her mark in hip-hop by rapping about issues of black women. Her songs covered topics on domestic violence, harassment on the streets, and relationship problems. She released her first album, "All Hail the Queen," in 1989. In 1992, she received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women. She released two more albums and then was signed by Motown Records for her fourth studio album, "Order in the Court." After this album, Queen Latifah shifted to soul and jazz music, and in 2004, she released "The Dana Owens Album." In 2007, she was the headlining act in a live jazz performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in which she was backed by a 10-piece orchestra. Her next album, "Trav'lin' Light," featured guest appearances from musicians of various genres. The album was nominated for a Grammy. Her latest album, "Persona," a return to hip-hop, was released in 2009 and reached #3 on the US R&B chart. Her singles "Unity" and "Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?)" both reached #2 on the US Rap chart. "Unity" went on to win a Grammy. Queen Latifah has sold over two million records worldwide during her music career.
In 2023, Queen Latifah's debut album, "All Hail the Queen," was added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.
Acting Career
Throughout her lengthy career, Queen Latifah has appeared in numerous high-profile films and television shows. One of her first roles was a guest-starring spot in two episodes of the second season of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," an NBC hit. She starred on the FOX sitcom "Living Single" from 1993 to 1998, which gained very high ratings. She was the host of the successful "Queen Latifah Show" from 1991 to 2001, then she revamped it for two seasons in 2013 and 2014. Latifah gained mainstream attention after she was cast in the musical film "Chicago," which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Latifah was nominated for best supporting actress for her role but lost to co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones. Latifah is one of only five R&B artists to receive an Oscar nomination in an acting category. She received her first Golden Globe in 2007 when she starred in the film "Life Support," in which she portrayed an HIV-positive woman. She has starred in several movies, including "House Party 2," "Set It Off," "Brown Sugar," "Bringing Down the House," "Taxi," "Barbershop 2: Back in Business," "Beauty Shop," "Hairspray," "Valentine's Day," "Just Wright," "The Dilemma," "22 Jump Street," and "Girls Trip." In 2017, it was announced that she had become an executive producer for the third season of the slasher TV series "Scream," which aired in 2019. More recently, she has appeared in the television series "Red Table Talk," "Maya and the Three," and "The Equalizer" and the movies "The Tiger Rising," "Hustle," and "End of the Road."
Queen Latifah's work in music, film, and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, a Grammy Award, multiple additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy Award nomination, and an Academy Award nomination. On January 4, 2006, Queen Latifah received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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Other Ventures
Outside of her entertaining career, she is a spokesperson for CoverGirl, Pizza Hut, and Jenny Craig. She has her own line of cosmetics for women of color. Queen Latifah also has her own perfume line, with scents Queen and Queen of Hearts. She has also written a book, "Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman."
In 2022, it was revealed that Queen Latifah's real estate development firm was creating affordable housing in Newark, New Jersey. The reported $14 million project has broken ground and will include 76 units as well as 1,900 square feet of ground floor space for non-profit organizations.
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Personal Life
Latifah's older brother was killed in 1992 in a motorcycle accident. She has discussed how her brother's death led to a brief period of depression and drug abuse. In 1995, she was a victim of a carjacking. Latifah was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana in 1996. She was again arrested for driving under the influence in Los Angeles and did three years of probation. In 2018, Queen Latifah confirmed the death of her mother due to a heart condition.
Queen Latifah's sexuality has been the subject of rumors over the years, and she remains private about her love life. But at the 2021 BET Awards, she confirmed a relationship with Eboni Nichols and acknowledged their son, Rebel, for the first time during her acceptance speech.
In mid-1996, a feud between Queen Latifah and Foxy Brown began. Media reported that Foxy Brown was a target in Latifah's diss track, "Name Callin," which was on the "Set It Off" movie soundtrack. Foxy Brown began to publicly question Latifah's sexuality in various radio interviews, and in 1998, she released a diss record over the matter. Latifah responded by releasing another diss record, dissing Brown about her reliance on skimpy outfits and sexuality to sell records. In 2000, the two reconciled and performed a song together on "The Queen Latifah Show" to show a truce.
Real Estate
Queen Latifah has lived in Colts Neck, New Jersey, as well as Rumson, New Jersey, and Beverly Hills, California. When she decided to move west because of her talk show, she placed her 7,000-square-foot, nine-acre New Jersey estate on the market for $2.4 million. The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion comes with a five-car garage and heated Olympic-sized swimming pool.
In 2015, Latifah sold a gated home she co-owned in the Hollywood Hills for $1.65 million after listing it for $1.94 million.
