00s R&B star gives fans jumpscare with ‘never ending’ note on new album-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro

Jennifer Hudson has released a brand new Christmas album (Picture: Michael Caulfield/WireImage)

Jennifer Hudson released her new album The Gift of Love on Friday – and one song in particular has given fans an almighty jumpscare.

The American singer and actress, 43, first broke out in 2006 when she played Effie White in the 2006 film adaptation of the stage musical Dreamgirls, also starring Beyoncé.

Two years later, she released her self-titled debut album and rose to international fame thanks to her single Spotlight, which reached number 11 in the UK charts.

She also boasts a stellar career on stage and on TV – she became the youngest woman in history to win all four EGOT awards (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony).

The Gift of Love is her first new album in a decade and mostly made of Christmas song covers, including O Holy Night, Carol of the Bells, and Little Drummer Boy.

However, the song from the album that’s caught the attention of her fans is the opener – a cover of Hallelujah, originally written by Leonard Cohen in 1984.

The Spotlight singer gives it her all on a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah (Picture: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Sporting a different arrangement from versions released by Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and Alexandra Burke, Jennifer’s Hallelujah is much slower and much longer.

But, right before the end of the song, the Dreamgirls star suddenly delivers the song’s title at a very high pitch and volume, with the amazing note lasting for 15 seconds in total.

It’s a stunning moment that has caught dozens of J-Hud fans completely off-guard, with X user @RandyEmillio admitting he ‘literally jumped’ out of his skin.

He continued, ‘I’m literally crying like why would she do this?’, before stating that he was a huge fan: ‘Clarifying that I love J-Hud down. I just thought this was funny. That’s a queen though.’

She starred in Dreamgirls with Beyonce back in 2006 (Picture: Kevin Mazur/WireImage for iHeartRadio)

BrandonUnivers3 concurred, commenting: ‘Doesn’t her diaphragm hurt doing the hollering and screaming and hollering and screaming b******t!?’

On the other side of the debate, 1NoelNiks reviewed the moment positively: ‘I love me a screaming song, I don’t care! I’m about to add this to my car concert list.’

Key_J also defended Jennifer, adding: ‘Y’all should know by now that’s Jennifer Hudson’s signature note, her money note, what gets her booked. You should’ve been prepared – you should’ve known it was coming!’

However, DNellyBPD said that he preferred Alexandra Burke’s version, which was released after she won the fifth series of The X Factor back in 2008.

He said: ‘I mean this in the most respectful way, I love Jennifer Hudson, but she really do be yelling on songs where it’s not needed. I can’t defend her here. Compare this to Alexandra Burke (my personal favourite) and it’s night and day.’

Jennifer has been dating rapper Common(Picture: Lester Cohen/WireImage)

The release of The Gift of Love marks something of a return to the world of pop music for Jennifer, who hasn’t released an album since 2014 and has since moved into the world of TV, chiefly with her talk show The Jennifer Hudson Show.

She also starred in the 2015 production of The Color Purple, which ran until 2017, and won two Tony Awards – including for best revival of a musical.

However, she did appear on Iggy Azalea’s Trouble in 2015, which reached the UK top 10, and has contributed to tribute albums dedicated to Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Aretha Franklin.

She won a Daytime Emmy in 2021, her Grammy in 2009 for her debut album, an Oscar in 2007 for Dreamgirls, and her Tony Award in 2022.

The Gift of Love was released on Interscope records – fans will be waiting to see whether it had performed better than her last album, JHUD, which didn’t reach the UK album charts.

Since 2021, Jennifer has been dating veteran rapper and actor Common. Her son, David Daniel Otunga Jr., was born in 2009 – Jennifer shares him with ex-fiancée David Otunga.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Entertainment – MetroRead More