Queen Latifah Had Her First Child, Rebel, in Her Late 40s: “I’m a Late Bloomer”

If anyone deserves their royal title, it's none other than Queen Latifah. Although her real name is Dana Owens, you'd never know it, as her regal vibes are so palpable you can't help but call her "Queen," or even just "Latifah," which, if you didn't already know, means "gentle," "pleasant," and "kind" in Arabic.

Queen Latifah has brought her elegance to the music industry, the big and small screen, and pretty much every other facet of entertainment. To many attuned with hip-hop culture, she's considered the mother of the wave of female rap. But, in 2019, Queen privately became a mother IRL.

Let's meet her child and see what she's said about her best role yet!

In 2019, Queen and her partner, Eboni Nichols, welcomed their son, Rebel. Rebel was the couple's first child together and, according to Essence, arrived six years after they started dating in 2013. However, much like Queen and Eboni's relationship, The Last Holiday star prefers keeping their son away from the spotlight as much as possible. But, in March 2025, Rebel made a rare appearance with his moms as the family of three attended an LA Lakers game.

Queen has also spoken about her son in interviews and during public appearances. In 2021, while accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards, she made sure to shout out her family in her acceptance speech.

"Eboni, my love. Rebel, my love," Queen said, adding, “Happy Pride.”

While she seems to be enjoying motherhood, she might not be done raising children yet. According to her interview with People Now, Queen said she'd love to give her son a sibling, but is taking her time in that department, calling herself a "late bloomer" when it comes to parenting.

“I’ve always envisioned myself with a big family, I’m a late bloomer," Queen admitted. "I’m a late bloomer with a lot of things and you know — nobody’s perfect. I’m an overachiever in some ways and just like slow as molasses in other ways. I think I kind of needed to grow and mature and get everything kind of taken care of with everything before I was able to really deal with it."

Queen might not be entirely ready to expand her family yet, but there's always a chance we'll see more little Latifahs running around. In the meantime, the "U.N.I.T.Y." performer is navigating raising her only child, which she admitted is challenging enough.

During her November 2025 appearance on the Living Single rewatch podcast, ReLiving Single, Queen briefly opened up about motherhood to hosts Erika Alexander and Kim Coles. She shared how she's fortunate she had her child later in life, but said she still wasn't prepared for how much she would appreciate her own mother, the late Rita Owens, through becoming a mom.

"As a parent now, the the first thought that crossed my mind was, 'Oh my god, mom. Thank you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry,' Queen shared. "Because the weight of it all, you realize like how how much your parents can care about you and worry for you and you know."

"You like literally can like just wake up out of a sleep just the whole it all runs through your mind," she continued. "All the possibilities of what could happen and what should happen but what could get in the way and what could go wrong. So you know your your parents are carrying around all this in their minds all the time. So there's this this proper stress that they're under that you just don't and shouldn't even understand as a child."

Luckily, Queen's little prince is more than protected with his two moms by his side!