Many fans still fondly remember Lauryn Hill as the breakout star of The Fugees and soulful singer whose music touched millions. However, in recent years, her tax issues and personal life drama have threatened to overshadow her career achievements. The Daily Beast reports on this artist’s downward slide:
Take a peek at singer Lauryn Hill’s touring schedule, and you’ll see she’s quite the busy lady. The former lead singer of the Fugees has booked concert dates around the U.S. and in several other countries over the next few months, and she performed just last weekend in Russia. And though in recent years tales of Hill showing up hours late or even canceling planned performances have abounded, there’s one upcoming date she is not likely to miss. At a court hearing in November, she will learn whether she will be sentenced to up to three years in jail for tax evasion.
On June 29, as Hill stood quietly in federal court in Newark, N.J., and pleaded guilty to not paying her taxes for three years, many of her friends, fans, and associates wondered how the 37-year-old singer, whose seminal 1998 solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, sold 18 million copies worldwide and defined an era of music, could have ended up this way. What went so wrong that one of the most fearless female forces in all of hip-hop could find herself at the mercy of a court—one that also has ordered her to undergo mental-health counseling?
From all accounts, the answers are as plentiful as they are complicated and as disappointing as they are sad.
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