Jennifer Hudson, also known as Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American singer, actress, and philanthropist with a Net Worth of $25 million. She holds a slew of awards after her career shot after she came seventh in the third season of iconic and popular show of America called American Idol.
She is very well known for her role as Effie White in the 2006 film version of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Due to her incredible vocal skills and her distinctive sound, she has been referred to as “The Princess of Soul”
| Net Worth | $25 million |
| Occupation | Singer, Actress, Philanthropist |
| Date of Birth | September 12, 1981 |
| Age | 38 |
| Height | 1.75m |
| Spouse(s) | James Payton (1999-2007) David Otunga (2008-2017) |
| Children | 1 |
| Country of Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Source of Wealth | Films, Albums |
| Instagram Followers | 3 million |
| Twitter Followers | 3.9 million |
| YouTube Subscribers | 611k |
| Last Updated | December 2020 |
Early Life
Jennifer Hudson was born on September 12, 1981, in Chicago, Illinois, the United States of America to Darnell Donerson and Samuel Simpson.
She was raised in Baptist, in Eaglewood and attended Dunbar Vocational High School from where she graduated in 1999. Her major inspirations of life were Whitney Hudson, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBella. Her musical heroes include Mariah Carey.
She started her musical experience by singing in the church choir along with performing at community theatre with the help of her grandmother. She got admitted at Langston University but left the college due to homesickness and the terrible weather and later entered Kennedy-King College.
Career Highlights and Awards
Jennifer Hudson got her first breakthrough when she first signed her first recording contract with Righteous Records, A Chicago based independent record label, it wasn’t the contract that awarded her her breakthrough, it was when she was given the opportunity to appear on the reality show American Idol in 2004, it was then when she accepted it and got released from her five-year contract with Righteous Records.
She auditioned for the third season in the show in Atlanta. Before that, she used to sing and perform as one of the Muses from “Hercules” on the ship Disney Wonder, which was part of the Disney Cruise Lines.
She performed extremely well at the show and turned out to be the highest voted participant for the Top 9 round, however she got eliminated two weeks later during the Top 7 round. Even though she didn’t win the competition, she was widely recognized as one of the greatest contestants of the show.
Related: Richest Musician in the World
2006-2008
Another huge breakthrough in her life was when she was cast in the role of Effie White for the film “Dreamgirls” which was pretty well received and turned out to be making more than $154 million and an $80 million production budget. The role market her debut screen performance.
With her debut role as Effie White she garnered 29 awards from film critics as Best Supporting Actress and Breakthrough performer of 2006. She won the Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In addition to that she has been named Best Supporting Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and also by the Screen Actors Guild.
She received particular praise for her show-stopping onscreen rendition of the song “And I am Telling You I’m Not Going”. The song “Love You I Do” from the movie was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for Best original Song and won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media.
2009-2013
In May 2008, Hudson appeared in the feature film Sex and the City as Louise, Carrie Bradshaw’s assistant. Another appearance was in The Secret Life of Bees as Rosaleen. The film grossed $37 million. In 2009, she starred as Kathy Archenault in Fragments movie.
In 2008, she returned to the studio recording new songs for her debut studio album. Her debut single was “Spotlight” that became the first top 40 hit peaking at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became top 20 hit in the United Kingdom and Turkey.
Her debut album “Jennifer Hudson” got released on September 30, 2008, written by Ne-Yo, co-produced by Ne-Yo and Stargate. The album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Top 200.
Hudson released her second album “I Remember Me” on March 22, 2011, that debuted on number 2 on Billboard 200. She played a nun in the film “The Three Stooges” in 2012. She guest-starred for a multi-episode arc on the second season of Smash. On November 13, 2013, she was awarded the 2,512th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2014-2020
On September 21, 2013, she released a single from her forthcoming third album that was released through her website. Her third studio album JHUD was released on September 23, 2014. Later in 2015, she guest-starred as Michelle White, a minor semi-recurring character in the first season of Empire.
In Fall 2015, she made her Broadway debut as Shug Avery in the Broadway revival of “The Color Purple”. Hudson later garnered her second Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album for it.
In Early 2017, she debuted in The Voice franchise as a coach on the sixth season of the Voice UK. She won the season with her act Mo Adeniran and became the first female coach to win the show. She also joined America’s version of The Voice in the thirteenth season.
In March 2020, she collaborated with Bono, William, and Yoshiki to create #SINGLE4LIFE, which was recorded remotely due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Personal Life
Jennifer Hudson dated James Payton while she was 18 in 1999, they got separated in 2007. She then met David Otunga, a professional wrestler in the WWE, the couple got engaged in September 2008. In August 2009, she gave birth to her first child named David Daniel Otunga Jr. and in November 2017, they split up.
As of 2011, Hudson resides in Burr Ridge, Illinois. Like a lot of other celebrities, she also has a top-notch Instagram popularity. She has been commonly observed modeling on Instagram with new clothes, hairstyles, and goofing.
Criticism
On October 24, 2008, Hudson’s 57-year-old mother and 29-year-old brother were found shot dead in their Chicago home. An AMBER alert was issued for her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King when Hudson’s older sister Julia reported he was missing. Three days later the Chicago police found a dead body on Chicago’s Westside which was of her nephew.
The autopsy of the kid revealed he had died of multiple gunshot wounds. After FBI investigation, police charged Julia’s estranged 27-year-old husband with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of the home invasion.
Convicted for all seven crimes, In July 2012, he was sentenced to three life sentences consecutively without parole followed by an additional 120 years.
What is Jennifer Hudson Net Worth in 2021?
Jennifer Hudson Net Worth is $25 million dollars. Her career shot up once she appeared on American Idol and carved her way into the industry through several albums, singles, films, and reality, she even coached some.
5 Interesting Facts About Jennifer Hudson
- In 2009, she got named the “sixth greatest American Idol” by MTV.
- In 2010, Los Angeles Times listed Hudson as the third greatest “American Idol” in the history of the show followed by season one winner and season four winner.
- March 2007, Jennifer Hudson became the third African-American celebrity and first African-American singer to grace the cover of Vogue Magazine.
- In 2010, Hudson became the sportsperson for Weight Watchers.
- Hudson performed with DC Choir at the March of Our Lives anti-gun violence rally in Washington on March 24, 2018.
Summary
Jennifer Hudson is a successful singer in the Hollywood industry who marked her essence starting from American Idol to her own albums ann holding a Net Worth of $25 million.
She seems to be very active in her myriad of roles, she is one of the few artists who made a handsome amount through both singing and acting. Jennifer Hudson had a “pitch-perfect” career and worked extremely hard to achieve this much amount Net Worth. Currently, she is single and is busy focussing on her career.
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Hi, I am Kunika and as you can guess, I love numbers. I started Browsed Magazine to share interesting numbers behind celeb’s net worth, the most expensive stuff around, and top lists that’ll take you in for a surprise.