Long live the queen.
Queen Latifah revealed Wednesday that her mother, Rita Owens, had died after struggling with a heart condition.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share the news my mother, Rita Owens passed away today. Anyone that has ever met her knows what a bright light she was on this earth. She was gentle, but strong, sweet, but sassy, worldly but pragmatic, a woman of great faith and certainly the love of my life,” the actress said in a statement to People.
“She had struggled with a heart condition for many years and her battle is now over. I am heartbroken but know she is at peace.”
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Actress Queen Latifah (middle r.) said her mother Rita Owens (middle l.) was the lover of her life.
(Phil McCarten/REUTERS)
Owens was diagnosed with heart failure in 2004 after she collapsed while teaching in a New Jersey high school.
“I found myself becoming a recluse,” she told People in 2015 when the mother and daughter filmed a PSA for the American Heart Association.
“You have to understand your body is not processing the same way it was before. I started counting the things I can’t do instead of the things I can do. And I said, ‘Nope, this is not acceptable.’”
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