Jill Scott

Jill Heather Scott (born April 4, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, model, poet and actress. Her 2000 debut album, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1, went platinum, and the follow-ups Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2 (2004) and The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (2007) both achieved gold status.

Scott made her film debut in 2007 in Hounddog and Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?. In 2008, she starred in the BBC/HBO series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, based on the novels of the same name by Alexander McCall Smith. After a four-year hiatus from music, Scott released her fourth album, The Light of the Sun, in 2011. In 2014, she starred in the film Get on Up as the second wife of James Brown. In 2015, she released her fifth album, Woman. Starting in 2018 Scott appeared in The CW DC Comics superhero series Black Lightning as Lady Eve.

Early life

Scott was born on April 4, 1972 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up an only child in a North Philadelphia neighborhood, raised by her mother, Joyce Scott and grandmother. She recalls a happy childhood and was "very much a loved child". Scott was raised as a Jehovah's Witness.

After graduating the Philadelphia High School for Girls, Scott attended Temple University. While working two jobs, she studied secondary education. She planned to become a high school English teacher. However, after three years of study and then serving as a teacher's aide, Scott became disillusioned with a teaching career, and she dropped out of college.