Queen Latifah will play the lead role in a new HBO biopic about blues singer Bessie Smith, allhiphop reports. She will also be an executive producer for the film, which is titled Bessie.
Smith was a blues icon in the 1920s. Her popular songs include “Nobody Knows When You’re Down and Out” and collaborations with Louis Armstrong, such as “I Ain’t Gonna Play No Second Fiddle” and “St. Louis Blues.” She was born in Chattanooga, Tennenesse and signed with Columbia Records in 1923.
The biopic is slated to release in 2015 and will also star Mo’Nique and Mike Epps.
In November, it was announced that Queen Latifah’s talk show has been cancelled and that the last episodes will air in March.
