Lauryn Hill Biography

Singer, songwriter, actress. Born in South Orange, New Jersey.

In 1998, Lauryn Hill released her solo debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and became the first woman or hip-hop artist to win five Grammy Awards when she received Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Performance, Best R&B Song ("Doo Wop (That Thing)") and Best R&B Album honors.

A natural performer, Hill sang at Harlem's Apollo Theater at age thirteen. Soon after, she met Prakazrel "Pras" Michel and his cousin, Wyclef Jean, and the three formed a band (which was at first called Tranzlator Crew, but later became the Fugees) and began performing in area clubs. While just a high school sophomore, Hill landed a recurring role on the television soap opera As the World Turns and soon after starred in Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act II: Back in the Habit. In 1993, instead of heading for Hollywood, Hill enrolled at Columbia University where she studied for a year before going on leave to pursue her career. That same year, the Fugees released their first album, Blunted on Reality, which met mixed reviews. In 1996, the group released a successful second album, The Score, which sold 17 million copes, making the Fugees the largest-selling rap group of all time and winning them two Grammy Awards (Best Rap Album and Best R&B Performance by a duo or group).

Hill's first solo effort, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), established her as a major talent in her own right. The album sold over 12 million copies and earned Hill five Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, a Billboard Award, a Soul Train Award and an MTV Music Award.

After an extended hiatus, Hill returned in 2002 with MTV Unplugged No. 2.0. The album was generated from Hill's two-hour acoustic performance on MTV's popular series MTV Unplugged.

Hill is also a dedicated activist. She is the founder of the Refugee Camp Youth Project, which raises money to send inner-city children in her native New Jersey to summer camp. She has two children with long-term boyfriend Rohan Marley, Zion, who was born in August 1997, and Selah Louise, who was born in November 1998. Marley is the son of legendary singer Bob Marley.