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. Beginning in 2018, Scott appeared in The CW DC Comics superhero series Black Lightning as Lady Eve.

Scott was born on April 4, 1972, in Philadelphia. She grew up an only child in a North Philadelphia neighborhood, raised by her mother, Joyce Scott and her grandmother. She recalls her happy childhood, saying she was “very much a loved child”. Jill Scott’s maternal ancestry has been traced to the Jola people of Guinea-Bissau. She was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness.

After graduating from 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 working as a teacher’s aide, Scott became disillusioned with a teaching career and she dropped out of college.

Scott began her performing career as a spoken word artist, appearing at live poetry readings to perform her work. She was eventually discovered by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of the Roots. Questlove invited her to join the band in the studio. The collaboration resulted in a co-writing credit for Scott on the song, “You Got Me”. In 2000, Erykah Badu and the Roots won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “You Got Me”, and Scott debuted as an artist during a Roots live show, singing as original artist/singer of the song. Afterwards Scott collaborated with Eric Benet, Will Smith, and Common; she broadened her performing experience by touring Canada in a production of the Broadway musical Rent.

Scott was the first artist signed to Steve McKeever’s ‘Hidden Beach Recordings’ label. Her debut album, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. 1 was released in 2000. She experienced some notice and chart success with the single “A Long Walk,” eventually earning a Grammy nomination in early 2003 for Best Female Vocal Performance. Scott lost that award, but won a 2005 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative R&B Performance for “Cross My Mind”. The live album, Experience: Jill Scott 826+, was released November 2001. Scott’s second full-length album, Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2, followed in 2004.

Scott continues to write poetry; a compilation volume of her poems, The Moments, The Minutes, The Hours, was published and released by St. Martin’s Press in April 2005. In early 2007, Scott was featured on the George Benson and Al Jarreau collaboration single “God Bless The Child” (written by Billie Holiday), which earned Scott her second Grammy (for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance) at the 2007 Grammy Awards ceremony. Scott shared the win with Benson and Jarreau. In 2006, Scott was prominently featured on hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco’s single “Daydreaming,” which won a 2008 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance and also appeared on a new Scott collection called Collaborations on January 30, 2007.

The Collaborations collection served as “an appetizer” for her next studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 released September 25, 2007. A clip of the title track was released on a bonus disc from Hidden Beach Records and included with Collaborations. The lead single “Hate on Me” gained airplay in May 2007, with a video released in mid-July. In advance of the album’s release, Hidden Beach released a 17-minute album sampler through their forums. Interspersed between the dozen songs previewed on the sampler was a personal explanation from Jill for the inspiration behind some of her songs.

In 2008, Scott released her second live album, Live in Paris+, which consists of 8 songs recorded during her set list of the “Big Beautiful Tour” in Europe. The bonus DVD contains the same concert, plus some live cuts from The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3. In the same year, “Whenever You’re Around,” a single from The Real Thing, which features George Duke was a moderate hit on urban radio.

Early in 2010, Scott was sued by Hidden Beach Records for leaving halfway through her six-album contract and owing millions of dollars in damages. The label’s founder, Steve McKeever, claimed that he helped launch Scott’s career and nurtured her into a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter but was unceremoniously dumped in October after a 10-year plus relationship. Scott, however countersued in response.

To offset the damages Hidden Beach planned to release several compilation albums consisting of previously unreleased material by Scott. The first album in this series was The Original Jill Scott from the Vault, Vol. 1. Previously titled Just Before Dawn, the album was asked to be paused by Scott so that fans would not get confused with the new material she was releasing, especially the new studio album The Light of the Sun, which was also being released around that time under a distribution deal that Scott and Warner Brothers signed in early 2011. The deal gives Scott direct control over her marketing and promotions and releases her music under her imprint of Blues Babe Records. She also signed a multi-tour deal with Live Nation to expand her concert touring.

The Light of the Sun officially began production in 2010. Scott gave fans a preview of the music on her 18-city venue, co-headlining tour with R&B singer Maxwell, entitled Maxwell & Jill Scott: The Tour. After the tour, Scott began studio sessions with the album’s executive producer, JR Hutson. Recording sessions took place in several locations, including 9th Street Studios, Studio 609, Fever Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California, Threshold Sound & Vision in Santa Monica, California, and The Studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California, and The Village Studios in West Los Angeles, California. It features collaborations from Anthony Hamilton, Eve, Doug E Fresh, and Paul Wall. The album was released for pre-order days before it was officially released on June 21, 2011. It debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with 135,000 copies sold in its first week, becoming her first No. 1 debut on the chart.

The album was preceded by the promo single “Shame,” which was released on Scott’s SoundCloud account in April 2012. The single features the rapper Eve and R&B trio The A-Group. The video was released on Essence.com on April 13. The album’s official debut single was “So in Love” featuring Anthony Hamilton. It was released in April and debuted at No. 43 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, Scott’s highest debut on that chart. It peaked at No. 10 and tied a record with Maxwell’s “Fortunate” for spending 14 weeks at No. 1 on the Urban Adult Contemporary Chart.

Scott promoted the album in several ways, including The Light of the Sundays, several online Essence interviews, and releasing the album as an iTunes LP, giving fans paid access to exclusive photos and videos. Scott also embarked on her Summer Block Party tour sponsored by Budweiser’s Superfest. The tour was a hit, selling out venues throughout the country with opening acts Anthony Hamilton and legendary group Mint Condition. It also featured Doug E Fresh as the host and DJ Jazzy Jeff as the DJ. The album’s second official single, “So Gone (What My Mind Says),” featuring Paul Wall, was released in August 2011, and the video premiered on September 13 on E! Online. It peaked at No. 28 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Scott also released a video for the song “Hear My Call”. The project gained Scott four NAACP Image Awards including Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Music Video (for “Hear My Call”), Outstanding Song (for “So in Love”), and Outstanding Album (for the whole of The Light of the Sun).