Lonnie Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), known by his stage name Common (formerly known as Common Sense), is an American rapper and actor. He debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, and gained critical acclaim with his 1994 album Resurrection. He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s. He achieved mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians.

His first major-label album, Like Water for Chocolate (2000), received commercial success. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for his feature on Erykah Badu's single "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)". His 2005 album Be was also successful and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. He received his second Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Southside" (featuring Kanye West), from his 2007 album Finding Forever. His best-of album, Thisisme Then: The Best of Common, was released in late 2007. In 2011, he launched Think Common Entertainment, his own record label imprint, having previously released music under various other labels including Relativity, Geffen and GOOD Music.

Common won the 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Glory", which he co-wrote and performed with frequent collaborator John Legend, from the 2014 film Selma where he co-starred as civil rights movement leader James Bevel. Common has also acted in films including Smokin' Aces, Street Kings, American Gangster, Wanted, Terminator Salvation, Date Night, Just Wright, Happy Feet Two, New Year's Eve, Run All Night, John Wick: Chapter 2, Smallfoot and Hunter Killer. He starred as Elam Ferguson from 2011 to 2014 on the AMC western TV series Hell on Wheels.

Early life
Common was born on March 13, 1972, at the Chicago Osteopathic Hospital in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He is the son of educator and former principal of John Hope College Preparatory High School, Mahalia Ann Hines, and former ABA basketball player turned youth counselor Lonnie Lynn. He was raised in the Calumet Heights neighborhood. Lynn's parents divorced when he was six years old, resulting in his father moving to Denver, Colorado. This left Lynn to be raised by his mother; however, his father remained active in his life, and was able to get him a job with the Chicago Bulls as a teenager. Lynn attended Florida A&M University for two years under a scholarship and majored in business administration.