Queen Latifah Finally Tells the Story Behind That Iconic Theme
Khadijah James herself has entered the chat. Queen Latifah joins former fictional flatmates Erika Alexander and Kim Coles for a warm, gloriously nostalgic ReLiving Single conversation — and somewhere along the way, she spills how that instantly recognizable Living Single theme tune came together.
For a sitcom that became such a defining piece of 1990s television, the opening theme is practically inseparable from the show itself. Latifah is officially credited as the series’ theme-music composer, which makes hearing her revisit its creation all these years later feel like getting a little piece of TV history straight from the source.
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Living Single Forever
Revisit the series, the soundtrack and Queen Latifah’s music while the original roommates take us back inside one of the defining sitcoms of the 1990s.
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The reunion centers on the first-season Mother’s Day episode “She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother,” which originally aired May 8, 1994. The story follows Khadijah and Regine as their mothers come to visit, opening the door for one of the show’s more personal family-centered episodes.
That episode carries an extra layer of meaning now because Latifah’s real-life mother, Rita Owens, was part of the conversation surrounding the show and remains an important part of her daughter’s memories of that period. The ReLiving Single discussion folds those family recollections into the larger nostalgia trip, with Alexander and Coles revisiting the kind of behind-the-scenes moments that fans never got to see during the original run.
And then comes the detail we especially love: Latifah talking about the Living Single theme song. That jaunty, impossible-not-to-sing opening became one of the sitcom’s signatures, setting the tone before Khadijah, Maxine, Synclaire, Regine, Kyle and Overton even appeared on screen.
It is easy to forget just how much of Latifah’s musical identity was baked directly into the show. She was already a groundbreaking rapper and recording artist when Living Single premiered in 1993, so having her creative fingerprints on the opening theme made the series feel even more distinctly hers.
The chemistry in the reunion is also thee reminder that the cast’s appeal was never only about punchlines. Living Single worked because the friendships felt lived in — messy, affectionate, competitive and deeply familiar. Watching Latifah, Alexander and Coles fall back into that rhythm decades later makes the entire thing feel less like a formal retrospective and more like old friends pulling up chairs.
And yes, hearing how that theme tune came to life only makes us want to yell the opening line all over again.
Watch Queen Latifah Revisit the Living Single Theme on ReLiving Single
Queen Latifah joins Erika Alexander and Kim Coles to revisit “She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Mother,” the show’s legacy and memories from behind the scenes.
Source: ReLiving Single; Warner Bros. Television.
