Ramona Rosales
Twenty years ago, Jennifer Hudson had hit bottom. As in the bottom three of “American Idol” — where she was shockingly up for elimination on the third season of the singing competition with fellow presumptive front-runners Fantasia Barrino and LaToya London. After her powerful pipes had carried her through with covers of Aretha Franklin, Elton John and Whitney Houston, Hudson was the vocalist booted on that night that shook up America, finishing a surprising seventh in the 2004 season ultimately won by Barrino.
“I feel like everything happens [for a reason], and I wouldn’t change any of it,” Hudson, 43, tells Alexa. “Everybody has their own track, and it could only be one winner at the time. And, you know, I think Fantasia was deserving to have won — and I’m deserving to have done everything that I’ve gotten to do as well.”
Indeed, that controversial elimination would turn out to be “a gift” for the Chicago native who went on to score an Oscar-winning role in 2006’s “Dreamgirls” and Grammy gold for her 2008 self-titled debut album. After winning a Daytime Emmy for her virtual-reality venture “Baba Yaga” in 2021, she would complete EGOT status as a producer of “A Strange Loop” when it won the Best Musical Tony in 2022.
Not bad for an “American Idol” also-ran.
She wasn’t kidding when she famously told us: “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” As she chats up other stars on the third season of “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” she’s also returning to her roof-raising roots as a singer with a new holiday album: “The Gift of Love.” While she clearly hasn’t gone anywhere, it’s been 10 years since Hudson’s last LP (2014’s “JHud”).
“I feel like it hasn’t been [a decade] because I sing through everything I do,” says Hudson. “Through films, commercials, different things, I have never stopped singing. So I didn’t notice that I hadn’t had an official Jennifer Hudson album … But time flies, especially when you’re busy — and I’ve been a busy girl.”
As bustling as her career has been, “The Gift of Love” was a labor of love. “What better way to come back than a Christmas album?” she says. “It’s been a dream of mine my whole career. I’m a holiday fanatic … so it just makes sense.”
Hudson began recording the album after her talk show went on hiatus for the summer. “I remember bike riding, listening to Christmas music on the beach,” she says. “And I was like, ‘We should probably listen to holiday music more than during the holidays because it kind of gives you this peace and relaxation.’”
But her “singing summer” still had its challenges as she dashed through the sand instead of the snow.
“I love Christmas songs, and … how do you narrow it down to even know what to record?” says the singer. “But holiday music, at least to me, is sentimental. So, like, ‘The Christmas Song,’ my grandmother loved this song, so it reminds me of my upbringing and the songs that my grandmother loved or that I used to hear around the house during the holidays.”
For Hudson, Christmas goes back to the church — where it all started for her — as reflected on “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” “Growing up in the church, we used to march in with the candles whatever Sunday there was leading up to Christmas and have our Christmas programs,” she remembers. “My gospel roots needed to be a part of the album.”
But “The Gift of Love” begins with “Hallelujah,” a stirring rendition of the Leonard Cohen classic. “I was like, if ‘Hallelujah’ is not on it, then there is no album,’” Hudson says. “Some may not look at it as a holiday song, but … I just think it unifies everyone.”
No doubt, she’s been bringing the masses together — whether through music, movies or TV — since “American Idol.” She was ready to seize her moment when the opportunity came to play Effie White in the movie version of “Dreamgirls.” “I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna let anything interrupt my faith or stop me,’” she recalls, “because to be able to have a second chance like that, I was not gonna miss that opportunity.”
After winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2007, the stakes were suddenly raised for Hudson, who went on to appear in other films such as 2008’s “Sex and the City,” 2013’s “Black Nativity” and 2019’s “Cats.” But she was given the “ultimate honor” when she was cast as Aretha Franklin in the Queen of Soul’s 2021 biopic “Respect.”
“I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna let anything interrupt my faith or stop me,’” she recalls, “because to be able to have a second chance like that, I was not gonna miss that opportunity.”
‘It’s like, ‘Oh my god, Aretha Franklin … it’s my dream to play her!’” she says. “And then it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, wait, I have to play Aretha Franklin!’ It’s a blessing and exciting, but it’s just as much overwhelming. You know whose footsteps you’re walking in, the shoulders you stand on.”
After that regal role, Hudson went from the cinema to the sofa, launching her talk show in 2022.
“I come from a very talkative family with a lot of personalities,” she says. “So if we’re not singing you down, we are talking you down. When the opportunity to do the talk show came about … I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. You mean to tell me I’ll be able to sit on the couch and just talk? Oh baby, roll the camera!’”
One of Hudson’s guests was Grammy-winning rapper Common, who made their romance official when he showed up with flowers for the host in a January 2024 episode. The two bonded over their shared Chicago roots.
“I think that’s how we connected initially,” she says, “because we were shooting the movie ‘Breathe,’ and one day he was leaving the set and I came into set, and the security was like, ‘You and Common are so personable and very nice to everybody. What is that?’ That’s what caught our attention. We have a similar energy about ourselves that kind of connected us. We’re similar types of people in a lot of ways. And I attribute that to being from Chicago. It feels familiar. It feels like home.”
Hudson — who has a 15-year-old son, David, from her previous relationship with former pro wrestler David Otunga — gushes about the special connection she’s found with Common. “It is very beautiful — it really is,” she says. “It hit different. There’s nothing like it, that’s for sure.”
In fact, Common recently hinted that he may be ready to put a ring on it. “If I’m going to get married, it’s to her,” he said on “The Breakfast Club” radio show in July.
“He keeps saying that,” Hudson replies with a giggle. “That is a very strong statement.”
Common is featured on “The Gift of Love,” rapping on the original song “Almost Christmas.” And his flow and finesse with words inspired a hip-hop version of “Jingle Bells.” “We were on the phone, just having a conversation, and it was around Christmas,” says Hudson. “And I was like ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house …’ and he flipped it and started freestyling. And it never left me.”
Hudson will be taking her Christmas show on the road with an intimate tour that starts Nov. 24 at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn before hitting Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. “It’s going to feel very festive, very family-oriented and very personal,” she says. “I am looking forward to just coming home to my musical family. That’s the reason why I’m still here.”
Wherever she goes from here, Hudson won’t forget her “Day Ones” — those who have stood with her since she first auditioned for “American Idol,” singing Franklin’s “Share Your Love With Me” in a prophetic moment.
“I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. That blows my mind when I look back,” she reflects. “I’m grateful for it all — to be in the industry this long and to have the support and love that I have. I don’t take it lightly. And that’s why this album is a gift of love to all of those who have been with me.”
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