Dana Elaine Owens, known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and producer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album All Hail the Queen on November 28, 1989, featuring the hit single “Ladies First”. Latifah starred as Khadijah James on the FOX sitcom Living Single from 1993 to 1998. Her third album, Black Reign (1993), spawned the single “U.N.I.T.Y.”, which was influential in raising awareness of women’s rights and the perspective of women in communities worldwide. She created the daytime talk show The Queen Latifah Show, which ran from late 2013 to early 2015 on CBS. She has appeared in a number of films, such as Bringing Down the House (2003), Taxi (2004), Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2005), Beauty Shop (2005), Last Holiday (2006), Hairspray (2007), Joyful Noise (2012), 22 Jump Street (2014) and Girls Trip (2017) and provided voice work in the Ice Age film series.