Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actress. She is best known for being a member of the Fugees and for her critically acclaimed solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which won numerous awards and broke several sales records.
Raised mostly in South Orange, New Jersey, Hill began singing with her music-oriented family during her childhood. She enjoyed success as an actress at an early age, with her older brother Graham Hill, appearing in a recurring role on the television soap opera As the World Turns and starring in the 1993 film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. In high school, Hill was approached by Pras Michel to start a band, which his friend, Wyclef Jean, soon joined. They renamed themselves the Fugees and released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994) and the Grammy Award-winning The Score (1996). In the latter record, which sold six million copies in the United States, Hill rose to prominence with her African-American and Caribbean music influences, her rapping and singing, and her rendition of the hit "Killing Me Softly". Hill's tumultuous romantic relationship with Jean led to the split of the band in 1997, after which she began to focus on solo projects.