Jennifer Hudson is an American singer-songwriter, actress, talk show host, and producer. Born and raised in and near Chicago, she started singing in church and doing community theatre from age 7. Hudson was a finalist in
American Idol in 2004 and truly rose to fame two years later, when she played the role of Effie in the musical film
Dreamgirls. Her version of
And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going especially impressed viewers the world over. She has released three albums to date, acted in movies and tv series, starred on Broadway, was a coach on the
The Voice in both the US and UK, has been hosting her own talk show since 2020 and became the youngest woman and second African-American woman to receive all four of the major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT). In 2020,
Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
