How much is Lauryn Hill worth?
| Net Worth: | $8 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | May 26, 1975 (age 47) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 3 in (1.61 m) |
About Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter who began her career in the 1990s. Before she focused on her solo career, Hill was a member of the hip-hop group Fugees. Her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill became one of the best albums of the century that won her many awards and even broke several sales records.
Lauryn Hill is famous because of her unique rapping skills. She was born on May 26, 1975, in Newark, New Jersey. She spent most of her adolescence in New York and New Jersey and has cited Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder as her inspirations. She began singing when she was in middle school. Before a basketball game, she performed the anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner”, which was her first performance.
At the time she was still attending the Columbia High School, Hill took acting lessons in Manhattan. Her career as an actress began at the age of 16. In early 1991, she appeared in Club XII, which was soon followed by an off-Broadway hip-hop rendering of William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night. Thanks to her promising acting skills, she landed a recurring role in the soap opera As the World Turns. In 1993, she starred with Whoopi Goldberg in the classic Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, which would amass $125 million and become a box-office hit.
In addition to making a name for herself in the music industry, Lauryn also starred in a variety of television projects such as As the World Turns, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, and Restaurant.
The talented rapper became rich after the formation of the iconic hip hop group — The Fugees. Pras (Prakazrel Michel) first met Hill when she was a freshman in high school. At first, the two formed the duo Translator Crew. Shortly after, Michel’s cousin Wyclef Jean joined to form The Fugees in 1993. When they signed with the label Ruffhouse, distributed through Columbia Records, the rappers were able to earn a living from their music.
Before the trio was officially disbanded in the late 1990s, they managed to release two commercially successful studio albums — Blunted on Reality and The Score. Even now, the group’s sophomore album is considered one of the best hip hop albums not just from 1996 but of all time. It was a chart-topper in 10 different countries and, in just a few months time, it also received gold, platinum, and silver certifications in 18 countries around the globe.
Shortly after the Fugees split in 1997, Lauryn began working on her own solo projects. Around the same time, she gave birth to her first child with Rohan Marley, the son of Bob Marley, with whom she began a relationship a year earlier. During and after her pregnancy, the rapper recorded her solo record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The album was officially released in August 1998.
The album became a sensation all over the world. In entered and topped multiple international charts and received gold, platinum, and million certifications in 14 different countries. Thanks to her impressive amount of record sales and touring, Hill earned millions in 1998 and 1999. Also in 1999, she became the first female to receive ten Grammy nominations in a single year, of which she won five awards.
In 2013, at 38 years old, Lauryn Hill has began a three-month prison sentence in Connecticut for tax evasion. She was sentenced for failing to pay tax on $1.8 million dollars of her earnings between the years of 2005 to 2007.
Hill’s Total Net Worth
Shortly after the release of her live album MTV Unplugged 2, the rapper left the public eye mainly because she felt disconnected from the music industry. Since the early 2000s, her subsequent activity includes occasional festival appearances and the release of a few songs.
Overall from her work in music and as an actress. It is estimated that Lauryn Hill has earned about $26 million dollars from her career. After tax, which has likely been at around 46% for Hill. It is estimated that her career income has totaled $14.04 million, having paid $11.96 million dollars in taxes.
It would seem that Lauryn Hill would be incredibly rich if one simply studied her revenues. However, as previously mentioned, in 2013, she was sentenced to prison for failing to pay tax on her earnings. Which begs questions as to whether she had spent the money or simply didn’t make the tax payment. It is likely that Hill spent quite some of her $26 million dollars earnings before tax, and today, it is estimated that her net worth is about $8 million dollars.
Summing-Up
Lauryn Hill is considered as one of the greatest female rappers. Besides being a pioneer in the Neo-soul genre, Hill is one of the most respected female artists that broke barriers for female rappers, popularized melodic rapping, and contributed to the mainstream of hip hop as part of the popular music.
She has served as an inspiration to eminent artists such as Adele, Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna, and many others. Throughout her career, Lauryn has won a lot of awards including eight Grammys, five Soul Train Music, five MTV Video Music Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Billboard Music Awards.
