Jennifer Hudson has revealed that her debut holiday album ‘The Gift Of Love’ will be arriving this autumn – marking her first release in 10 years.
The news comes after Hudson confirmed that she had signed a new deal with Interscope Records recently. ‘The Gift Of Love’ would be her first release under the label and serves as a follow-up to her third studio album, 2014’s ‘JHUD’.
The EGOT winner unveiled the artwork for the record on her social media. She teased that the “holiday season starts” this October in a trailer, showing her decorating a Christmas tree. In the caption, she wrote: “The Gift Of Love [heart emoji] My first-ever holiday album will be out 10/18! [October 18].
“Pre-order now at the link in my bio. I cannot wait for it to be yours! #TheGiftofLove.”
Fans can hear a snippet of Hudson’s soulful acoustic rendition of the iconic Christmas tune ‘Jingle Bells’ – which is set to feature on the album. Check out the trailer below.
According to People, Hudson is set to sing seasonal classics like Nat King Cole‘s ‘The Christmas Song’, Richard Himber’s ‘Winter Wonderland’, seminal Broadway track ‘My Favorite Things’, ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and carols such as ‘O Holy Night’, ‘Go Tell It On The Mountain’ and ‘Little Drummer Boy’.
There will also be original songs on ‘The Gift Of Love’, including ‘Almost Christmas’ with her current boyfriend, hip-hop luminary Common. Meanwhile, the South African quintet The Joy are due to appear on ‘Carol Of The Bells’.
‘The Gift Of Love’ tracklist is:
1. ‘Hallelujah’
2. ‘Winter Wonderland’
3. ‘Carol of the Bells’ (ft. The Joy)
4. ‘Find The Love’
5. ‘O Holy Night’
6. ‘Make It To Christmas’
7. ‘Santa to Someone’
8. ‘My Favorite Things’
9. ‘Little Drummer Boy’
10. ‘Go Tell It On The Mountain’
11. ‘Almost Christmas’ (ft. Common)
12. ‘Jingle Bells (Prelude)’
13. ‘Jingle Bells’
14. ‘The Christmas Song’
15. ‘Auld Lang Syne’
Hudson has been vocal about her love for the holidays before. “It’s no secret that Christmas is my favourite time of year and one of the things I love most about it is the holiday music,” she told People in 2021.
“For me, it’s all about creating a feeling of love and warmth to celebrate the season, so I hope this song can do just that for everyone, especially my amazing and persistent fans who have been asking for that Christmas album!”
After releasing ‘JHUD’ in 2014, Hudson focused on her acting career. She had a recurring role in the first season of the popular musical drama Empire and made her Broadway debut as Shug Avery in the 2015 play revival of The Color Purple.
In 2021, Hudson portrayed the Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer Aretha Franklin in the highly-anticipated Respect biopic. Franklin had handpicked Hudson – who was critically lauded for her performance in the film.
NME awarded Respect four stars, writing: “[The film] fills out Aretha Franklin’s story, focussing on her life-long commitment to civil rights, from singing at MLK’s funeral to her support of Angela Davis, and refusing to gloss over her struggles with alcoholism, abuse and depression. The result is a film with heart, as well as an awful lot of soul.”
In other news, Hudson has revealed that she has at least 26 siblings, and is still yet to meet some of them.