newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ALICIA CRUZ

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

In honor of the 30th anniversary of legendary Jamaican singer, Bob Marley’s death, late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon hosted a weeklong tribute to the entertainer, topping it off with a two-song performance by New Jersey native and singer, Lauryn Hill.

After a lengthy self-imposed exile from the public eye, rumored to be the result of an emotional breakdown, the New Jerseyan appeared as the VIP performer on the show Thursday night along with her personal band singing “Could You Be Loved,” from Marley and the Wailers last album in 1980 and 1981 ballad “Chances Are.”

She took a break from her summer tour for the tribute, which also featured Lenny Kravitz, Chris Cornell, Jennifer Hudson, Keith Richards and Jakob Dylan. Each singer performed one of Marley's classic hits, thefader.com reported.

According to Music Mix on EW.com, Marley's oldest son, Ziggy, will perform tonight. Several fans tweeted their delight about Hill’s comeback, while others remained skeptical recalling previous performances where she was habitually late or acted bizarre.

One fan wrote, “Wow, that sounds exciting!!! That will be her first tv appearance since when...?” Another wrote, “I'm so excited and scared at the same time. I hope she's ready to go back on TV. I myself would love for her to perform "Could You Be Loved" so she can really bring down the house. She rocks that number out!”

Segun posted, “Wow. This will be great. I hope she saves her voice so she can show everyone she still has it and gives an interview too.”

Last year, Hill broke her no-interview rule when she spoke with National Public Radio's Zoe Chace, after a Santa Rosa, California show following another public hiatus. The former Refugee Camp singer said there were a number of reasons for her disappearance, but said it was primarily due to a lack of support and a need for personal growth, reported USMagazine.com.

The successful launch of her solo career in 1998 with the critically acclaimed, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” album was followed by “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0.” The album featured live recordings of mostly solo songs to an acoustic guitar.

During her performance hiatus, Hill continued to write music, but also explored poetry and acting. An online biography says that her work on a screenplay about the life of her children's grandfather, in which she planned to star as his wife Rita, work on a romantic comedy about soul food titled, “Sauce,” and a starring role in the film adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel, “Beloved” were all scrapped due to her pregnancy. More recently, Hill recorded songs for soundtracks and mix tapes, returning to the stage for live performances at several music festivals.

Hill, a native of East Orange, New Jersey, attended high school at Columbia in Maplewood along with actor and South Orange native, Zach Braff of medical comedy TV series fame, “Scrubs.”

In 1988, Hill, born Lauryn Noelle, was an Amateur Night contestant on “Showtime at the Apollo” where she sang a personalized rendition of Smokey Robinson's “Who's Lovin' You?”

The audience initially booed her, but Hill sang on, eventually winning the tough audience over. She enrolled in New York's Columbia University in 1993, but left to pursue her singing career.

Hill and fellow New Jerseyans, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel, formed a three-member group "The Fugees" releasing their first LP, “Blunted on Reality,” in 1994. The group hit gold with the release of their second album, "The Score" in 1996.

Jean and Hill dated briefly, but by 1996, she met the love of her life, Rohan Marley, Bob Marley’s fourth eldest son. The couple have five children together: Zion David-Nesta Marley born 3 August 1997; Selah Marley born 12 November 1998; Joshua Marley born January 2002; John Marley born in 2003 and baby girl Marley, born in January 2008.