Jennifer Hudson
How Aretha Franklin “shaped” her career
Jennifer Hudson turned 40 on September 12th.
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Jennifer Hudson is a celebrated actress and singer. On her 40th birthday, she commemorates Aretha Franklin, who “shaped” her career.
Jennifer Hudson will celebrate her 40th birthday on September 12th. On the occasion of her big day, the singer and actress, who has received Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy awards, looks back on her impressive career, which has apparently been shaped primarily by one person: Aretha Franklin (1942-2018). “She was always influential in my life”, Hudson recalls on the Sky News Backstage Podcast.
It all started with her participation in the casting show “American Idol”, in which Hudson took seventh place in 2004. “I thought, wow, my ‘American Idol’ audition song was an Aretha Franklin song and then I sat back and thought about all the honors I got to give her, you know, in her life. And then it grew I went to church and the songs I sang in church were from their ‘Amazing Grace’ album. “
She was able to take that with her from the biopic “Respect”
Since then, Franklin has always been “present” for her and has shaped her musically “and also as a person”. So it’s no wonder that Hudson also paid homage to the “Queen of Soul”, who died of cancer in August 2018: at the funeral she moved the mourners to tears with the song “Amazing Grace”.
Hudson then embodied the soul icon in the biopic “Respect”, which was released in theaters in August 2021. In the podcast, she reveals that she perceives her voice in a completely different way after filming. “Trusting your voice – that was always important to her – is what I took away from the film.”