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Quick Facts
- NAME: Lauryn Hill
- OCCUPATION: Television Actress, Songwriter, Music Producer, Singer
- BIRTH DATE: May 26, 1975 (Age: 37)
- EDUCATION: Columbia University, Columbia High School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: South Orange, New Jersey
- Full Name: Lauryn Noelle Hill
- AKA: Lauryn Hill
- ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini
Best Known For
When singer, songwriter and actress Lauryn Hill released her solo debut album, she became the first woman or hip-hop artist to win five Grammy Awards.
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Play NowLauryn Hill. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:44, May 19, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/lauryn-hill-9542643.
Lauryn Hill. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/lauryn-hill-9542643 [Accessed 19 May 2013].
"Lauryn Hill." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 19 2013, 12:44 http://www.biography.com/people/lauryn-hill-9542643.
"Lauryn Hill," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/lauryn-hill-9542643 [accessed May 19, 2013].
"Lauryn Hill," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/lauryn-hill-9542643 (accessed May 19, 2013).
Lauryn Hill [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 19] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/lauryn-hill-9542643.
Lauryn Hill, http://www.biography.com/people/lauryn-hill-9542643 (last visited May 19, 2013).
Lauryn Hill. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/lauryn-hill-9542643. Accessed May 19, 2013.
Synopsis
Lauryn Hill was born in South Orange, New Jersey, on May 26, 1975. 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—for 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.
Contents
Quotes
"Be honest, brutally honest. That is what's going to maintain relationships."
"Reality is easy. It's deception that's the hard work."
"We can't plan life. All we can do is be available for it."
Background and Career with the Fugees
Singer-songwriter, producer and actress Lauryn Noelle Hill was born in South Orange, New Jersey, on May 26, 1975, to Valerie Hill, a teacher, and Mal Hill, a computer consultant. After releasing her solo debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, in 1998, Hill became the first woman or hip-hop artist to win five Grammy Awards—for 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.
A natural performer, Lauryn Hill was singing at Harlem's Apollo Theater by the age of 13. Soon after, she met Prakazrel "Pras" Michel and his cousin, Wyclef Jean, and the three formed a band focusing on hip-hop, soul and R&B. First called Tranzlator Crew (later becoming the Fugees), the group began performing in area clubs, with Hill singing lead vocals.
Hill tried her hand at acting at an early age, as well. When she was just a high school sophomore (attending Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey), Hill landed a recurring role on the television soap opera As the World Turns. Soon after, she earned a featured part in the popular film Sister Act II: Back in the Habit, starring Whoopi Goldberg.
Instead of heading to Hollywood, in 1993, Hill enrolled at Columbia University, where she studied for a year before pursuing a performance career. That same year, the Fugees released their first album, Blunted on Reality, which met with mixed reviews. Three years later, the group released a hugely successful second project, The Score (1996). Featuring the hit single "Killing Me Softly," which highlighted Hill's bold and soulful vocals, the album sold 17 million copies—making the Fugees the highest-selling rap group of all time—and garnered two Grammy Awards (best rap album and best R&B performance by a duo or group).
Following The Score's release in 1996, the Fugees have briefly reunited for live performances, but have not worked on another album. In 2003, the group released a Greatest Hits album.
Going Solo
Lauryn Hill's first solo effort, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), established her as a major talent in her own right. The album sold more than 12 million copies and earned the singer-songwriter five Grammys, 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, a recording of her two-hour acoustic performance on the popular series MTV Unplugged. In October 2005, Hill performed two songs at the Take Back TV concert launching Al Gore's CurrentTV.
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Apollo Legends
View groupMany African-Americans made their name performing at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, including Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. The roster of talented artists who made their careers after a successful amateur night at the Apollo grew so large, that the venue earned a reputation as the place to jump-start the career of an ambitious hopeful. Other performers, like Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson, came to the theater after experiencing big professional success, adding further credibility to the historic New York concert hall. Explore the biographies of some of the more notable African-Americans who stepped out onto the Apollo stage, making entertainment history.
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