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Bowled Over by the Queen

Thu., Jul. 12, 2007 3:45 PM PDT by Marc Malkin

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I can never get enough of Queen Latifah.

She showed the world she could do more than rap—and turned me into a huge fan—when she costarred as a jazz singer opposite Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito in the 1998 flick Living Out Loud.

Then, four years later, came Chicago, in which Latifah nabbed an Oscar nomination for her work as badass Matron Mama Morton.

And then there was last night. Latifah, 37, made her debut at the legendary Hollywood Bowl to kick off this season's Jazz at the Bowl with a concert of standards and some blues.

She started things off with a couple of songs, "I'm Gonna Live Until I Die" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," from her first album of vocals, 2004's The Dana Owens Album.

My favorite number of the night? "Georgia Rose," which Latifah said she fell in love with the first time she heard it because it made her cry. It's included on her upcoming album, Trav'lin' Light, which is set to hit stores in September.

Her sweetly smooth cover of the Mamas and the Papas' classic "California Dreamin'" felt as if she were singing it as a nod to her enormous success—from a one-time Burger King employee in New Jersey to the Oscar-nominated actress who gets to headline at the Bowl.

And speaking of papas, Latifah's was there last night. At one point, she coaxed her dad out from backstage to wave to the crowd.

Scott Weiner/ZumaPress.com

In the audience, I saw former Will & Grace star Sean Hayes, Latifah's Hairspray director Adam Shankman (that's him with Latifah in the photo above at the Hollywood premiere on Tuesday) and Hairspray producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan.

What's up next for Latifah? New Jersey, of course. She's hosting a premiere of Hairspray next Wednesday in her hometown of Newark.