Portrait of Jennifer Hudson

Birthday profile

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress

Born
September 12, 1981
Age in 2026
45
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1981

About Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, producer, and talk show host. Having received numerous accolades for her work in music, film, television, and theater, Hudson became the youngest woman and third African-American recipient of all four major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) in 2022. She was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020. Hudson rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season of the reality series American Idol, wherein she placed seventh. She signed with Arista Records to release her self-titled debut studio album (2008), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and won Best R&B Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Her second and third studio albums, I Remember Me (2011) and JHUD (2014), both peaked within the top ten of the Billboard 200; the latter was released by RCA Records. She signed with Interscope Records to release her fourth album, The Gift of Love (2024), her first solo project in a decade. She made her film debut as Effie White in the musical Dreamgirls (2006), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and became the youngest African-American recipient of the award. She has since portrayed Aretha Franklin in the musical biopic Respect (2021) and acted in films such as Sex and the City (2008), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), Winnie Mandela (2011), Black Nativity (2013), Sing (2016), Cats (2019), and Goat (2026). She also has appeared in shows such as Smash (2012), Empire (2015) and Confirmation (2016). On stage, she acted in the Broadway musical revival The Color Purple (2015) and won the Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer of A Strange Loop (2022). Hudson has served as a coach on both the British and the American versions of the reality series The Voice from 2017 to 2019, and became the first female coach to lead a winning team on the former. In 2022, her talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, premiered.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Jennifer Hudson timeline

  1. She made her film debut as Effie White in the musical Dreamgirls (2006), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and became the youngest African-American recipient of the award.
  2. She signed with Arista Records to release her self-titled debut studio album (2008), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and won Best R&B Album at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.
  3. On stage, she acted in the Broadway musical revival The Color Purple (2015) and won the Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer of A Strange Loop (2022).
  4. Having received numerous accolades for her work in music, film, television, and theater, Hudson became the youngest woman and third African-American recipient of all four major American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) in 2022.

The world when Jennifer Hudson was born

Jennifer Hudson was born in 1981. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1981

  • #1 song"Bette Davis Eyes" – Kim Carnes
  • Top movieChariots of Fire
  • Top TV showDallas
  • Best-selling bookThe Hotel New Hampshire – John Irving

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentSugar Ray Leonard defeats Thomas Hearns
  • Top headlineMTV launches
  • Technology milestoneIBM launches the PC
  • Defining fadPac-Man fever
  • Notable inventionIBM PC (personal computer)
  • World population4.53 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderRonald Reagan
  • Sports championLos Angeles Dodgers (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population229.5M

1981 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Jennifer Hudson's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19812026
Gas$1.31$3.45/gal
Average home$68,900$435,000
Average income$22,388$67,500
Minimum wage$3.35$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$2.78$11.95
Postage stamp$0.18$0.73
Population229.5M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, MusicBrainz. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.