One of American Idol’s most successful finalists, Jennifer Hudson, turned the big 3-0 yesterday! Although Jennifer was eliminated in seventh place from Season 3 of American Idol, she has gone on to be the first Idol to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe award, and a SAG award.
Jennifer’s self-titled debut album led to five singles, three music videos, and it earned her four Grammy award nominations and one win for Best R&B album. In March of 2011, Jennifer released her sophomore album, I Remember Me, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Jennifer performed her first single off the album, “Where You At,” on a Season 10 results show.Mom to two-year-old David Daniel Otunga Jr., Jennifer is also a tremendous actress. Her feature film debut in Dreamgirls won her practically every award imaginable. She also appeared in the Sex and the City movies, The Secret Life of Bees, the yet-to-be-released film Winnie (she plays the titular role), and she just wrapped filming with The Three Stooges. Currently, it’s hard to find a magazine that doesn’t feature a svelte Jennifer Hudson on the cover!
Happy Birthday, Jennifer! Thirty has never looked so good.