Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Noel Hill born May 25, 1975 in South Orange, New Jersey is a '''Grammy Award-winning American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, producer, and film actress'''. Early in her career, she established her reputation in the hip-hop world as the lone female member of The Fugees. In 1998 she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The recording earned Hill five Grammy Awards. Hill is the mother of five children with Rohan Marley, the fourth son of reggae legend Bob Marley.

Acting career:
Hill began her acting career at a young age. Hill appeared on the soap opera, As The World Turns as Kira Johnson. In 1993, she starred in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit as Rita Louise Watson. In the film, she performed the songs "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" (a duet with Tanya Blount) and "Joyful, Joyful". It was in this role that she first came to national prominence, with Roger Ebert calling her "the girl with the big joyful voice". Her other acting work includes the play Club XII with MC Lyte, and the motion pictures King of the Hill, Hav Plenty, and Restaurant. After her rise to musical stardom, '''she reportedly turned down roles in Charlie's Angels, The Bourne Identity, The Mexican, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions'''.

She appeared on the soundtrack to Conspiracy Theory in 1996 with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", and on Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood in 2002 with the track "Selah".

External links:

 * January 2006: Interview with Essence magazine 2005: They Call Me Ms. Hill
 * October 30, 2003: Rolling Stone magazine, "The Mystery of Lauryn Hill: She made one of the greatest albums of the Nineties—then what happened?" by Touré