Jennifer Hudson recently joined the pantheon of stars who have achieved EGOT status thanks to their achievements in the entertainment industry. An artist becomes an EGOT winner once they have won at least one Emmy Award, one Golden Globe Award, one Oscar and one Tony Award.
The club of EGOT winners in history is so exclusive, that Hudson became only the 17th person ever to achieve the feat. Composer Richard Rodgers was the first artist to ever attain EGOT status, with actresses Rita Moreno and Audrey Hepburn among other early winners.
In more recent times, they have been joined on the list by the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones and John Legend. For Hudson, arriving at this rarefied level is a magnificent accomplishment, a long way from her breakout days as a contestant on American Idol.
These days, the 40-year-old is herself a coach on a reality music competition show – The Voice – having sold around 1.5 million albums and featured in dozens of movies and TV shows. This is her journey towards becoming an EGOT legend.
8 Jennifer Hudson Started Her Acting Career In 2006
Two years after her 7th-place finish in Season 3 of American Idol, Jennifer Hudson kick-started her acting career with a role in the musical drama film Dreamgirls by Bill Condon. She played the main role, in a cast line-up that also included Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy, among others.
J.Hud’s character in Dreamgirls was called Effie White, a young singer who recovers from a serious career setback and losing her lover, to become a musical superstar.
7 Jennifer Hudson Won An Oscar For Dreamgirls In 2007
Dreamgirls would be the beginning of J.Hud’s journey to EGOT folklore, as she won the Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actress” in February 2007. This came about a month after she had bagged a Golden Globe Award, also for the same role.
Effie White remains J.Hud’s most successful role to date, considering it also earned her a BAFTA, a Critics’ Choice Movie Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and many more.
6 Jennifer Hudson Received Her First Grammy In 2009
It wasn’t too long after Jennifer Hudson’s incredible success in Dreamgirls that she won her first ever Grammy Award. Having now already featured in her initial movie role, she released her inaugural album in 2008, titled Jennifer Hudson.
The album was nominated for four Grammy Awards, and emerged victorious in the category “Best R&B Album.” Within the first two years of her official acting and music career, Hudson had already gone halfway towards her eventual EGOT status.
5 How Many Grammys Has Jennifer Hudson Won?
Jennifer Hudson had already received her first Grammy nomination in 2008, in what would have been a collective award for “Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.” Her four nominations for Jennifer Hudson made her a five-time nominee, and gave her first win.
Since then, the Chicago-born star has received four more Grammy nominations, including two for her portrayal of the legendary Aretha Franklin in her biopic, Respect. J.Hud’s one other Grammy win was for “Best Musical Theater Album” in 2017, following her involvement in the 2015 Broadway revival of the musical The Color Purple.
4 Has Jennifer Hudson Won A Primetime Emmy Award?
An Emmy Award is a must-have for anyone to achieve EGOT status. Jennifer Hudson has never been nominated for the main Primetime Emmy Awards, but she did receive a nod for a Daytime Emmy Award in 2021.
This was for “Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program”, after she starred in the animation fantasy short film Baba Yaga alongside Kate Winslet, Glenn Close, Daisy Ridley, and others. The project won the Emmy, meaning that Hudson was now only missing a Tony to become an EGOT star.
3 Jennifer Hudson Completed Her EGOT Circle With A Tony Award For A Strange Loop
That Tony Award arrived in June this year, albeit in the form of another collective accolade. Jennifer Hudson was part of the cast of the musical play A Strange Loop on Broadway, which was eventually recognized for “Outstanding Production of a Musical.”
Having officially arrived among the EGOTs, she wrote on her Facebook page: “Wow !!! I am overwhelmed by all the outpouring of love and support that I am Still receiving and I’m still processing this whole new ground. What an honor !”
2 What Other Awards Has Jennifer Hudson Won?
At the age of 40, Jennifer Hudson has been working in showbiz for nearly half her life now. In that period of time, she has been nominated for more than 100 major awards, and won at least half of those.
Among the other accolades of J.Hud’s career is a Satellite Award (Dreamgirls), two BET Awards, and a People’s Choice Award, to name a few.
1 What’s Next For Jennifer Hudson?
Jennifer Hudson has already achieved so much in her career, even beyond her EGOT standing. With the longer part of her professional years still ahead of her, though, she is showing no signs of slowing down.
The artist’s immediate next project is The Jennifer Hudson Show, an upcoming daytime talk-show that will debut on her 41st birthday – on September 12, 2022.