Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter and actress. She is one of the few actors to have won all four major screen acting awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as a Grammy Award and more than twenty other prizes.

Hudson came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX reality television series American Idol. She subsequently established herself as a solo recording artist and film actress, starring in the 2006 motion picture Dreamgirls for which she has won numerous awards. Her self-titled debut album was released in 2008 on Arista Records and soon certified gold by the RIAA for more than 500,000 shipped copies, spawning the number-one single "Spotlight."

In late 2008, Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew were murdered. Hudson went into seclusion mourning the loss of her family. In 2009, Hudson re-entered the spotlight. She has since performed at the Super Bowl XLIII, the Grammy Awards, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.