Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud,[1] is an American singer, actress, and television personality. Having received numerous accolades for her work in music, film, television, and theater, Hudson became the youngest woman and third African-American recipient of all four major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) in 2022.[2] She was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013,[3] and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.
She was raised as a Baptist[12] in Englewood[13] and attended Dunbar Vocational High School, from which she graduated in 1999.[14] She cites Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Patti LaBelle as her overall biggest influences and inspiration.[15] She has also credited Mariah Carey as being one of her musical "heroes".[16] At age 7 she got her start in performing by singing with the church choir and doing community theater with the help of her late maternal grandmother, Julia.[17] She enrolled at Langston University but she left after a semester due to homesickness and unhappiness with the weather, and registered at Kennedy–King College.In November 2005, Hudson was cast in the role of Effie White for the film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls, which also starred Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles and Eddie Murphy. The role marked Hudson's debut screen performance. She won the role over hundreds of professional singers and actresses, including Fantasia Barrino.[Hudson played a nun in the Farrelly brothers film The Three Stooges (2012).[80] The day after the death of Whitney Houston, Hudson paid tribute to her by singing Houston's "I Will Always Love You" during the 54th Grammy Awards held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.[81] Hudson guest-starred for a multi-episode arc on the second season of Smash.[82] She sang "America the Beautiful" with the Sandy Hook Elementary School chorus at Super Bowl XLVII.[83] Hudson sang at the 85th Academy Awards in a tribute to musical films.[84] She performed "Same Love" with Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, and Mary Lambert at the 2013 MTV Video Music AwardsOn July 20, 2021, Hudson was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey about her role as Aretha Franklin in the film, Respect.[110] The Aretha Franklin bio-pic, Respect, was directed by Liesl Tommy and was released in August 2021.[111] Hudson's performance earned her the Chairman's Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival as well as a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.[112][113] The film was accompanied by a soundtrack sung entirely by Hudson featuring covers of several of Franklin's songs with one original song for Hudson, "Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)", being released as the soundtracks lead single in June 2021.[114] The song earned Hudson nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award
