Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975)is an American recording artist, musician, producer and actress. Early in her career, she established her reputation as a 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, including the coveted Album of the Year and Best New Artist.
Following the success of her debut album, Hill largely dropped out of public view, in part due to her displeasure with fame and the music industry. After a four-year hiatus, she released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, a live recording of "deeply personal songs" performed mostly solo with an acoustic guitar.In more recent years, she has recorded songs for soundtracks and mixtapes, as well as performing live at several music festivals. Hill has six children, five of whom are with Rohan Marley, the son of reggae musician Bob Marley.To date, she still avoids publicity.
Hill began her acting career at a young age, appearing on the soap opera As The World Turns as Kira Johnson. In 1993, she co-starred in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit as Rita Louise Watson, in which 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".
The Fugees' first album, Blunted on Reality, peaked at #49 on the U.S. Hot 100. The album sold over two million copies worldwide. Blunted on Reality was followed by The Score, a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning album that established two of the three Fugees as international rap stars. Singles from The Score include "Ready or Not", "Fu-Gee-La", "No Woman, No Cry" (made famous by Bob Marley), and "Killing Me Softly" (made famous by Roberta Flack).
After the release of her debut album, she explored other methods of expressing herself, including creating an extensive amount of music, poetry, and clothing designs. She started writing a screenplay about the life of Bob Marley, in which she planned to act as his wife Rita. also began producing a romantic comedy about soul food with a working title of Sauce, and accepted a starring role in the film adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel Beloved;she later dropped out of both projects due to pregnancy.Hill became dissatisfied with the music industry; she felt she was being unfairly controlled by her record label, and disliked being unable "to go to the grocery store without makeup."She fired her management team and began attending Bible study classes five days a week; she also stopped doing interviews, watching television and listening to music.She started associating with a "spiritual adviser" named Brother Anthony.Some familiar with Hill believe Anthony more resembled a cult leader than a spiritual advisor, and thought his guidance probably inspired much of Hill's more controversial public behavior.
On December 13, 2003, Hill made headlines by denouncing "corruption, exploitation, and abuses" in reference to the molestation of boys by Catholic priests in the United States and the cover-up of offenses by Catholic Church officials.The statements were made during a performance at a Christmas benefit concert at the Vatican. Reading from a prepared statement,Hill told the crowd of 7,500:"I am sorry if I am about to offend some of you. I did not accept my invitation to celebrate with you the birth of Christ. Instead I ask you why you are not in mourning for Him in this place? I want to ask you, what have you got to say about the lives you have broken? What about the families who were expecting God and instead were cheated by the Devil? Who feels sorry for them, the men, women and children damaged psychologically, emotionally and mentally by the sexual perversions and abuse carried out by the people they believed in? Holy God is a witness to the corruption of your leadership, of the exploitation and abuses which are the minimum that can be said for the clergy. There is no acceptable excuse to defend the church."
In January 2010, Hill returned to the live stage and performed in stops across New Zealand and Australia on the 'Raggamuffin Festival'- a music festival that celebrates reggae music. She performed songs from the Miseducation album and some Fugees hits. On April 19, Hill appeared at the Tanzania Education Trust Gala And Reception in New York City for a Charity Event. When making this public appearance, she was asked by paparazzi whether she is working on a new album, to which she replied "Yeah, possibly", suggesting that she may be working on new projects, and possibly a second album.On June 8, it was announced that Hill would be the very special guest performer at Rock the Bells hip hop Festival series. Five days later, Hill appeared at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, California, her first live American performance in several years. In a June interview with NPR reporter/producer Zoe Chace as part of NPR's 50 Great Voices Series, Hill confirmed that she was planning to begin recording again and discussed her hiatus and five children.Ronald Isley of the Isley Brothers confirmed he worked with Hill on an upcoming album as well. On September 8, 2010, Isley and Hill's duet, Close To You, a remake of the classic song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, was leaked online.Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop
