"The Secret Life of Bees" Star Jennifer Hudson Has No. 2 Album on Billboard Chart

Jennifer Hudson's long-awaited eponymous debut album entered the Billboard Top 200 album chart at Number 2 for the week ending 10/18/2008, second only to T.I.'s latest effort. Fans of the "American Idol" castoff from Season 3 who thought she was robbed of her due (but certainly rectified by the karmic wheel when she won her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress) finally were able to listen to something other than her song stylings on the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack.

Hudson finished 7^th in the 2004 "American Idol" competition. Fantasia Barrino won that season.

But Hudson did not let finishing in 7^th place slow her down. Being cast to play in the adaptation of the musical "Dreamgirls" gave Hudson - who won the part over hundreds of others, including Fantasia Barrino - the opportunity to rub shoulders with Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, and Eddie Murphy. The work she did would result in an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and many others. Her singing would help catapult the soundtrack to No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," her single from the soundtrack, reached No. 1 on the U.S. Dance chart.

Previous to the release of her album, her first single "Spotlight" was launched. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 29 on the Hot 100 singles chart.

The "American Idol" alumnus was given the honor of singing the National Anthem before Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on August 28.

The 26-year-old was a bit overwhelmed by all the work involved at first. As she told Billboard magazine, "I remember doing 'Dreamgirls,' and that's all I had to do, and that was crazy. I would look at Beyonce, because she was doing acting and singing, and I'm like, 'How the hell can she do that?' Now I'm looking at it like, 'Oh, God, all right, if she can do it, if Jamie [Foxx] and Queen [Latifah] can do it, then it means it can be done.' "

And indeed it could.

Hudson continued to act in addition to her singing. She had a part in "Sex and the City" (and a song, "All Dressed In Love," on the soundtrack) and "Winged Creatures," which has yet to be released. In "Winged Creatures," Hudson works alongside Forest Whitaker, Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce, and Kate Beckinsale. She has a starring role in another movie with Dakota Fanning, the upcoming "The Secret Life Of Bees," in which they co-star with Queen Latifah, and Alicia Keys. The movie's plot focuses on the lives of five people traumatized by a murder-suicide.

"The Secret Life Of Bees" is the movie adaptation of the novel by Sue Monk Kidd and is set in 1960's South Carolina. It centers around the lives of two young women (Fanning and Hudson) who escape their harsh and abused existence. They are taken in by the Boatwright sisters (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo), who are beekeepers.

"The Secret Life Of Bees" was produced by actor Will Smith. His wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, was executive producer. The movie is due to hit theatres on Friday, October 17.

Sources:

IMDb.com

Wikipedia.org

Billboard.com