10 Things You Didn’t Know about Jennifer Hudson

From American Idol to American icon.

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1. Jennifer Hudson was born in Chicago and considers President Obama a friend.

2. As a teenager, she worked at Burger King to earn money for school.

3. With 74 nominations and 41 wins, she is the first American Idol to win both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe award.

4. To test the waters for “American Idol,” she took a job on a Disney Cruise ship for a year. She auditioned for “American Idol” in Atlanta two days later with nearly 11,000 people.

5. In 2007, the mayor of Chicago deemed March 6 Jennifer Hudson Day.

6. Jennifer appeared on the March 2007 cover of Vogue as only the third African-American celebrity and the first African-American singer.

7. After six months of auditions, Jennifer Hudson beat out over 700 actresses (including Fantasia Barrino) for the role of Ee White in Dreamgirls.

8. She is one of just 16 actors to win an Oscar for their movie debuts.

9. She cites Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Patti LaBelle as her overall biggest influences and inspiration.

10. She’s become known as the Aretha Franklin of this generation due to her ability to hold deep ranges for long periods of time.