Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson gained fame on the third season of the hit phenomenon American Idol in 2004. 

Shortly after exiting American Idol in seventh place, Hudson was cast along side Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, and Eddie Murphy as Effie White in Dreamgirls. Her performance in the role had Variety magazine proclaiming her to have “a voice like the young Aretha.”

Hudson’s main performance from the movie, titled “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, catapulted her onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while her other Dreamgirls hit “Love You I Do” earned a nomination for an Academy Award and won a Grammy Award in 2008. 

Jennifer Hudson earned 29 critic awards for her performance in the movie, including the Golden Globe Award, SAG Award, BAFTA Award, and, most impressively, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. 

In 2015, Jennifer appeared in the hit show about behind-the-scenes of the music business, Empire.

She won a Grammy Award for her eponymous self-titled debut album, which was quickly certified gold by the RIAA and spawned the hit single, Spotlight". Hudsons public appearances have included Super Bowl XLIII, the Grammy Awards, American Idol, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. 

Hudson also performed at the memorial of the late Michael Jackson..

As a testament to her overwhelming success and praise, Vogue chose Jennifer Hudson as the first ever African-American singer to be on the cover of the magazine. Since Dreamgirls, Jennifer Hudson has starred in a wide array of films including The Secret Life of Bees, and Winnie. In addition to her foray onto the big screen, Hudson has stayed true to he musical roots- winning two Grammys and performing worldwide. 

Hudson's third studio album, JHUD, was released on September 23, 2014. Hudson described the album as more "upbeat" than her previous material. She worked with Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, RedOne, and R. Kelly among others. RedOne said about the material: "It's not dance dance, but it's soulful dance. It's very '70s kinda style".  Hudson stated: "What we're doing feels so right that I never want to go home (from the studio). My sister and my manager will be sleeping on the couch while we work until 4 or 5am".

Hudson confirmed that a song on the album will be "It's Your World" and features R. Kelly, in an interview with Jonathan Ross on The Jonathan Ross Show.  On June 20 she released the music video for "Walk it Out" featuring Timbaland, which is the first single off her upcoming album. On July 3 Hudson announced that the name of her third album is JHUD.

In January 2015, it was announced that Hudson would be making her Broadway debut as Shug Avery in a revival of The Color Purple.  She guest-starred and sang a song in the 10th episode of the first season of Empire.  

Hudson performed "I Can't Let Go" by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman at the 87th Academy Awards as a tribute to the individuals Hollywood lost in the previous year.

She had a role in Spike Lee's musical film Chi-Raq and was later seen in the HBO film Confirmation.

Hudson played Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray Live!.

She also played the female lead alongside Adam Sandler in the Netflix film Sandy Wexler.

In May 2017, it was then announced that Hudson would become a coach for the American version of The Voice, starting with its thirteenth season.

Hudson released "Remember Me" on 3 March 2017 as the lead single from her upcoming fourth album.

Her latest Grammy Award comes from her single with R. Kelly, “It’s Your World”. 

In 2013, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Most recently, Jennifer Hudson has become the spokeswoman for Weight Watchers, having lost over 80 pounds since becoming a wife and mother.

In 2017 Jennifer 'J Hud' appeared as a judge on the UK's The Voice, mentoring the eventual winner Mo Adeniron.