48 Fun Facts About Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill grew up in South Orange, a suburb in which US state?

New Jersey. Fame did not move her far: by 1999 she had bought a second house in the same town and turned her childhood home into a recording studio.

The cover of Hill's solo debut has her portrait carved into what?

A school desk. Hill posed for photos at her own old high school, then asked for a new direction, and a retoucher made one portrait look as if it had been cut into the desk.

In Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Hill played which surly Catholic-school student?

Rita Watson. Director Bill Duke said the rap she reels off in one classroom scene was never scripted: 'That was all Lauryn.'

Before Sister Act 2, Hill played troubled teenager Kira Johnson on which soap opera?

As the World Turns. Her pay from the soap and from Sister Act 2 went into the Fugees, helping to keep the trio going before it had a record deal.

The title of Hill's 1998 solo debut was partly inspired by a 1933 book by which historian?

Carter G. Woodson. Hill first meant to name the album after The Education of Sonny Carson, until her collaborators steered her to a humbler title echoing his The Mis-Education of the Negro.

Which lead single from Hill's debut album entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1?

Doo Wop (That Thing). Hill wrote and produced it by herself, and its verses warn first women and then men not to let 'that thing' ruin their lives.

At the 1999 Grammys, Hill beat which group to the award for Best New Artist?

Backstreet Boys. It was one of five Grammys Hill won that night, and accepting the biggest she called the moment crazy, because this was hip-hop music.

The Fugees reunited in 2004 for a Brooklyn street concert staged and filmed by which comedian?

Dave Chappelle. Hill had been booked for his Block Party alone, but when her label would not clear her solo songs she brought the other two instead, their first show together since 1997.

Hill's lead vocal on which cover song gave the Fugees their breakout hit in 1996?

Killing Me Softly. Their biggest hit never appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, because it was not sold as a single in the US and the chart's rules then required one.

What was the title of the Fugees' hugely successful second album, released in 1996?

The Score. After their first record bombed, the trio's second went on to sell more than 17 million copies and earned them two Grammys.

After New York, Hill moved her solo debut's sessions to which studio?

Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica. On her first day there she wrote 'Lost Ones', and children wandering through the studio joined in, calling out the last word of every line.

Rohan, Hill's long-term partner and the father of five of her children, is a son of which musician?

Bob Marley. Hill later began developing a film about his life in which she planned to play his wife herself.

Hill's song 'To Zion' was written about her decision to do what?

Have her first child. Some around her urged her to put her career first, but the pregnancy instead pulled her out of a spell of writer's block.

Which actress played the mother of Hill's character in Sister Act 2?

Sheryl Lee Ralph. She recalls the teenage Hill telling her on set that her band would be called the Fugees, and replying that she might want to rethink the name.

Hill sang the chorus of 'If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)', a 1996 hit for which rapper?

Nas. It was her first appearance on record outside the Fugees, and the pair were still working together 25 years later, on his 2021 track 'Nobody'.

What was the title of the Fugees' slow-selling 1994 debut album?

Blunted on Reality. It sold poorly, and reviewers who were lukewarm about the record said Hill outshone her partners and should strike out on her own.

What nickname was Hill known by within the Fugees?

L. Boogie. The playful tag did not last: by 2003 Rolling Stone was reporting that she insisted on being called Ms. Hill, not Lauryn.

Hill was studying at which college before sales of The Score persuaded her to leave?

She was considering a history major and still living with her parents at 21.

Hill wrote and produced 'A Rose Is Still a Rose', a late-career hit for which soul legend?

Aretha Franklin. Hill offered her childhood hero the song, sang on it herself, and saw it become the last Top 40 pop hit of Franklin's career.

Hill's 'Mystery of Iniquity' was interpolated by Kanye West on which single?

All Falls Down. Hill would not clear a sample of her own recording, so West had Syleena Johnson re-sing the hook, and Hill ended up with a songwriting credit.

Hill's 2002 live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 featured her singing accompanied only by which instrument?

Acoustic guitar. She had recently taught herself to play, and performed a full set of unheard songs alone while pregnant with her third child.

Hill's eighth Grammy came as a producer on which 1999 blockbuster album?

Santana's Supernatural. Hill wrote, produced and rapped on a single track, 'Do You Like the Way', and that was enough to share in the album's biggest Grammy.

Hill's cover of 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' was recorded for which 1997 film?

Conspiracy Theory. A San Francisco DJ began playing her unreleased cover, radio made it a hit, and it was tucked onto her debut album as a hidden track that still earned a Grammy nomination.

Hill's 'virtual duet' with a late reggae icon appeared on which 1999 remix tribute album?

Chant Down Babylon. The album paired the singer's old vocals with new guests, and Hill sang and rapped around his 1977 recording of 'Turn Your Lights Down Low'.

Which group of musicians sued Hill in 1998, claiming she had denied them proper credit on Miseducation?

New Ark. Hill's side insisted the four had been properly credited and she wanted to fight, but the suit was settled out of court in 2001 for a reported $5 million.

Hill's non-profit for at-risk youth, founded in 1996, was called what?

The Refugee Project. It ran summer camps, raised money for Haitian refugees and registered thousands of voters, with Sean Combs, Mariah Carey and Spike Lee on its board.

Where did Hill denounce clergy sexual-abuse cover-ups during a 2003 Christmas concert?

The Vatican. Reading from a statement, she asked the church officials in the hall what they had to say to the families betrayed by people they had trusted; the Pope was not there.

Hill was sentenced in 2013 to three months in prison for what offence?

Failing to file tax returns, for 2005 to 2007. She said she had stopped when she withdrew from society to protect her family, and served three months in prison plus three in home confinement.

Which older song did Hill post online in August 2014 as a rough sketch dedicated to Ferguson, Missouri?

Black Rage. First performed in 2012, it sets her own lyrics about the roots of that anger to the melody of 'My Favorite Things' from The Sound of Music.

Lauryn Hill recorded six songs for a 2015 tribute album to which singer and civil-rights activist?

Nina Simone. Hill agreed to record two songs for the tribute and got so swept up that she ended up with six, then stayed on as a co-producer.

Hill made a surprise appearance during her son's set at which festival in 2024?

Coachella. She came out to back him with a short set of her own classics, then brought on Wyclef Jean for a partial Fugees reunion.

Which former bandmate sued Hill in October 2024 over the cancelled Fugees reunion tour?

Pras Michel. His federal suit accused her of mismanaging the group's cut-short 2023 tour and the reunion dates scrapped a year later; Hill called its claims false.

Hill's 2026 Grammy performance led an In Memoriam tribute to which two late musicians?

Roberta Flack and D'Angelo, who both died in 2025. It was Hill's first Grammy performance since 1999, and the set included the duet she and D'Angelo had recorded for her debut album.

Whose 2018 debut passed Hill's as the longest-charting first album by a female rapper?

Cardi B, with Invasion of Privacy, which outlasted Hill's 92 weeks on the Billboard 200. The record-breaker owes Hill a debt of its own: its hit 'Be Careful' borrows a melody from her album.

In 2024 Apple Music named Hill's debut the best album ever made, one place ahead of which album?

Thriller. Hill answered by sharing the credit: the award was hers, she said, but it took in many people, much sacrifice and 'so much collective love'.

Which American clothing brand created custom outfits for Lauryn Hill's 1999 Miseducation Tour?

Levi Strauss. One of the ensembles she wore on the tour has since gone on display in a museum exhibition about the company's history.

At 13, Hill sang on which TV talent contest, got a rough reception and cried afterwards?

Showtime at the Apollo. Her mother told her afterwards that if she was going to cry every time a crowd didn't scream and holler, then perhaps this wasn't for her.

Hill's 2019 song 'Guarding the Gates' was recorded for the soundtrack of which film?

Queen & Slim. The song was no stranger to her fans: Hill had been singing it at concerts for several years before the film's soundtrack finally gave it a studio version.

In Sister Act 2, Hill and Tanya Blount share a duet on which song?

His Eye Is on the Sparrow. Blount went on to form the duo The War and Treaty with her husband, and Katy Perry has said she was raised on the pair's version of the hymn.

Which Scrubs actor was a high-school classmate of Lauryn Hill?

Zach Braff. The class-of-'93 friends lived in the same neighbourhood, and he has said Hill came to his bar mitzvah and was his partner in a party game there.

What small role did Hill play in Steven Soderbergh's 1993 film King of the Hill?

An elevator operator. Her gum-popping lift girl in a 1930s hotel is on screen only briefly, yet Soderbergh's biographer Jason Wood singled the part out as one of the film's warmest scenes.

Drake's 2018 number one 'Nice for What' is built on a sample of which Hill song?

Ex-Factor. Hill's own song borrows from Wu-Tang Clan's 'Can It Be All So Simple', so all eight members of the group share the writing credit on Drake's hit too.

Hill's song 'I Find It Hard to Say (Rebel)' was originally written about the police killing of whom?

Amadou Diallo, the unarmed man shot by New York police in 1999. Hill revived the song at a Tidal charity concert in 2016, calling it an old tune that was 'even more relevant now'.

In 2024 Hill appeared on which concept album by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis?

Warriors. Hill sings the gang leader Cyrus: Miranda wrote asking her to take the part and heard nothing for a year, until a link to her finished vocal arrived by text.

Which future star, then unknown, played piano on Hill's 'Everything Is Everything'?

John Legend. The session was his first appearance on a commercial record, and he has credited Hill with giving him his start.

Hill's debut beat which Madonna album to the top Grammy in 1999?

Ray of Light. Madonna had won just one Grammy before that night and went home with three more, but Album of the Year went to a hip-hop record, a first.

After her solo debut, Hill became the first rapper to appear on the cover of which magazine?

Time. Its February 1999 cover story, 'Hip-Hop Nation', traced her solo album back to a stop at the Motown Museum on her way home from a session in Detroit.

Camp Hill, run by Lauryn Hill's youth charity, gave city children two-week stays in which mountains?

Catskills. About 100 campers aged 10 to 13 spent two weeks there in the summer of 1999, passing daily cabin inspections and staging their own talent show.