Aug 06 2008
Whatever happened to Lauryn Hill?
That’s the question asked in the current issue of People Magazine. In the late-90’s, the Fugees front-woman had gone solo with her bestselling and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She was an international superstar poised to take over the world. She was versatile, talented and smart enough to expand her career and move into any field she chose, from acting to activism. What happened?
I would sum up the article by saying: life happened. For one thing, she had five kids, all with Rohan Marley, son of Bob. From the sound of it, Marley’s left it up to her to raise their brood. Hill now lives in relative anonymity in suburban New Jersey with her mother and the kids. Marley tells the magazine that Hill continues to write songs all the time, sparking rumors that she’s planning a comeback.
However, her public appearances in the past years have been rocky to the say the least. Let’s just say that in the video game of celebrity, she’s racked up a lot of crazy points. She’s kept reclusive for years, but ventured on-stage in 2001 to record an MTV Unplugged album that was basically a taped nervous breakdown. She started demanding to be addressed as Ms. Hill and alienated old friends like fellow Fugees member Pras Michel. She toured in 2007, but her habitual lateness, clownish makeup and outfits, and raspy-sounding voice alarmed fans. Rumors spread that she was mentally ill or on drugs, and Michel publicly expressed his view that she was bipolar.
A Rolling Stone article from 2003 points to her relationship with “shadowy spiritual advisor” Brother Anthony as a factor in her transformation. Hill met him in 2000, and soon after she fired her management team. Hill’s friends didn’t trust Brother Anthony, who preached an ideology all his own. She became increasingly influenced by his teachings, some say brainwashed by them. The article also cites competition with former boyfriend and Fugees member Wyclef Jean, unhappiness in her relationship with Marley, and the pressures of fame as sources of frustration for Hill.
Whatever happened, fans still yearn for the fresh-faced and together Hill of 1998. As she keeps showing us, though, she’s not that person anymore, and seems to feel that she never really was.
