Jennifer Hudson

About this artist

Jennifer Kate Hudson, also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, and philanthropist. Hudson rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season of American Idol, placing seventh. She made her film debut as Effie White in Dreamgirls, for which she received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.
Following her elimination from American Idol and performance in Dreamgirls, Hudson was later signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis and released her self-titled debut studio album in 2008, which was certified gold in the United States, sold over a million copies worldwide, and received a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. Her subsequent studio albums, I Remember Me and JHUD, saw continued commercial success with the former also being certified gold in the United States. Hudson received her second Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2017 as a cast member on The Color Purple.
Hudson was the subject of significant media attention in 2008 when her mother, brother, and nephew were killed in a shooting.