NEED TO KNOW
It’s been nearly three decades since the Fugees released their iconic, Grammy-winning album The Score.
Though their remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and “Ready or Not” dominated the airwaves in the late 1990s, drama between Lauryn Hill, Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean created rifts that overshadowed their musical success. Eventually, the group disbanded to pursue solo careers.
Exactly why the Fugees broke up remains unclear. Jean claimed in his 2012 memoir Purpose that his affair with Hill and her alleged betrayal over the paternity of her son, Zion Marley, led to the group’s disbandment in 1997. He claimed that she tricked him into believing he was the father, when the child’s real dad was Bob Marley’s son Rohan Marley.
“In that moment something died between us,” Jean wrote, per Complex. “I was married and Lauryn and I were having an affair, but she led me to believe that the baby was mine, and I couldn’t forgive that … She could no longer be my muse. Our love spell was broken.”
Michel claimed that Jean was “the cancer” of the Fugees in an October 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, saying, “He’s the reason why it got wrecked to begin with, he’s the reason why it’s not fixed.”
Despite their tumultuous past, the beloved hip-hop trio has reunited a few times over the years. The Fugees performed a surprise set at the 2005 BET Awards and released their single “Take It Easy” later that year. Though they announced a reunion tour in 2021, it was canceled the following year.
So, where are the members of the Fugees now? Here’s everything to know about Lauryn Hill, Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean’s lives three decades after the trio disbanded.
Lauryn Hill
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After the Fugees broke up, Hill found massive success with her first solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The 1998 record not only won her the Grammy for Best New Artist, but also Album of the Year — the first hip-hop album to ever win in that category.
The rapper and singer has only released one other studio album since then — a recording of new material she played live for MTV Unplugged — but it was not nearly as popular as her debut hit. Still, she is largely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time and has won a total of eight Grammys.
Hill told Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums podcast in January 2021 that she was never given the opportunity to produce another studio album.
“I challenged the norm and introduced a new standard,” she explained. “I believe The Miseducation did that and I believe I still do this. [Myself and my album] defy convention when the convention is questionable.”
Outside of her musical career, Hill had a brief acting stint in the ’90s and appeared in movies like Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit and Hav Plenty. She’s also been a major influence in fashion and design.
In 2013, Hill was sentenced to three months in prison and three months of home confinement for not filing tax returns for five years, per the Department of Justice.
The “Doo Wop (That Thing)” singer shares five children with her ex-partner, Marley: Zion, Selah, Joshua, John and Sara. She hasn’t publicly shared the father of her youngest son, Micah.
In April 2024, Hill performed at Coachella and surprised fans when Jean joined her onstage. Though the Fugees were scheduled to embark on a reunion tour that August, the U.S. dates were canceled three days before the first show.
Hill claimed on Instagram that “clickbait headlines” affected the tour’s ticket sales.
Pras Michel
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Like Hill, Michel also pursued a solo career after the Fugees, releasing his hit single “Ghetto Supastar” in 1998. However, he soon pivoted from the stage to the screen and starred in the 2000 crime drama Turn It Up.
That project led to a string of minor roles in the 2000s in movies like Higher Ed and Mutant Chronicles as well as series like Nora’s Har Salon. Michel also produced documentaries like Skid Row and Sweet Micky for President.
His web series, The Bay, won three Emmys in 2020, per Deadline.
Michel has released a few singles over the years and reunited with the Fugees during the 2023 Roots Picnic. After the group’s reunion tour was canceled in 2025, the rapper released an alleged diss track against Hill titled “Bar Mitzfa.” In it, he seemingly blames her for the fallout.
“No one will remember: click bait beefs, how many Gucci bags you owned, bogus excuses,” Michel raps in the song. “People will remember: How you made them feel, if you kept your word, if they could count on you, if you come on Time!!!”
Months later, he sued Hill, alleging fraud and breach of contract related to the canceled 2024 tour and the shortened 2023 tour. The former Fugees frontwoman called the lawsuit “baseless” in a statement.
In November 2025, Michel was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in an international conspiracy involving Malaysian businessman Jho Low during former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign.
The rapper was found guilty in April 2023 of conspiracy, concealment of material facts, making false entries in records, witness tampering and serving as an unregistered agent of a foreign power.
At his sentencing, he was set to surrender to prison by January 2026.
Pras shares a son, Landon, with his ex, Angela Severiano.
Wyclef Jean
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Jean was the first of the Fugees to release a solo album, with his record The Carnival debuting in 1997. The group was still together at the time and Hill and Michel even made guest appearances on the album.
The rapper went on to release eight more studio albums, and has been nominated for 10 Grammys — including Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie.”
Jean, a native Haitian, founded the charity Yéle Haiti in 2005 to support the country’s youth and assist impoverished communities. The organization remained active until 2012, when the rapper resigned following scrutiny of the $16 million in donations raised after Haiti’s 2010 earthquakes, per Philanthropy News Digest.
In addition to his charity, Jean announced a bid to run for president of Haiti in 2010, but was deemed ineligible for office since he did not reside in the country.
After an extended break from music, Jean returned in 2017, telling PEOPLE coming back to the art was like “drinking water, it’s a natural thing.”
The rapper shares one daughter, Angelina Jean, with his wife, Claudinette Jean.
