Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American singer and actress. At seventeen years old, she relocated to New York. She toured with the production until October 1980. Her performance was widely acclaimed, particularly in her signature rendition of the musical number that ends Act I, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". She earned a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical at the 36th Tony Awards in June 1982. In the same year, Geffen Records released Dreamgirls: Original Broadway Cast Album which included a recorded version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" for which Holliday earned a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 25th Annual Grammy Awards in 1983. The song was released as a single in 1982, which peaked at number twenty-two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and atop of the US Hot Soul Singles chart.

1983–1995: Recording career In October 1983, she released her debut album Feel My Soul on Geffen Records. In August 1985, she released her second album Say You Love Me, which peaked at number thirty-four on the US Top Black Albums chart. In November 1987, she briefly joined the touring stage production of The Gospel Truth. In mid-1988, she starred as Aretha Franklin in the touring stage play musical Harlem Suite.

In July 1991, Holliday released her fourth studio album I'm on Your Side on Arista Records. In 1995, she joined the cast of the Broadway revival of Grease as Teen Angel. "A Woman's Got the Power" peaked at number seven on the US Dance Club Play chart.

In January 2001, she starred as American blues singer Bessie Smith in an Off-Broadway stage production of Downhearted Blues - The Life and Music of Bessie Smith. She received her first film role as Sadie in the American drama film The Rising Place, released in February 2001. She recorded a song "You've Got to Rise Up" and served as music supervisor for the film's soundtrack. The following year, Holliday returned to doing stage productions where she again reprised her role of Effie White in the Theater of the Stars 2002 production of Dreamgirls,

2007–2019: Return to Broadway Following the release of film Dreamgirls in 2006, Holliday announced that she felt snubbed by not being invited to appear in the film, despite original musical cast member Loretta Devine making a cameo appearance. However on June 26, 2007, Holliday made a surprise appearance at the BET Awards, performing alongside Jennifer Hudson in a duet performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". In April 2011, Holliday released a collaborative album with Rev. Raphael G. Warnock titled Goodness and Mercy, on her own Euphonic Records label. She reunited with her original Dreamgirls cast members Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine during the 21st Annual Divas Simply Singing! benefit concert in October 2011. In July 2012, she reprised her role of Effie White at the St. Louis Muny production of Dreamgirls. In 2014, she released her sixth album The Song Is You.

In October 2016, Holliday returned to Broadway in the revival of The Color Purple, portraying the role Shug Avery until January 2017.

2020–present: Recent activities In February 2022, she released another single titled "So in Love". Later that year, Holliday competed in season seven of The Masked Singer as "Miss Teddy" of Team Cuddly. She was unmasked on April 13 alongside Duane Chapman as "Armadillo" of Team Good. In February 2025, she released a live album titled Love Songs: Live at the Catalina Jazz Club.

Personal life Holliday was married twice. Her first husband was a musician named Billy Meadows, whom she married in 1991 after two months of dating. The marriage was short-lived and after nine months, they divorced. Holliday remarked, "The marriage ran out of steam. We just didn't know each other well enough." She married evangelist Andre Woods, on March 21, 1993, at his church in Detroit. After a marriage that was plagued by infidelity and marred by financial abuse from Woods, Holliday divorced him in 1994. She later received a honoris causa Doctor of Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2000.

Health Holliday had weight issues for many years. During her original three-year tenure in the 1980s Broadway musical Dreamgirls, Holliday stated that she had reached her peak-weight of 340 pounds in 1982. Holliday stated that her weight gain stemmed from depression. Contributing factors also included a lack of career opportunities due to her obesity and the loss of her record deal with Geffen Records. The depression ultimately led to a failed attempt at suicide by consuming an overdose of sleeping pills on her thirtieth birthday. By August 1991, she reportedly followed a medically supervised diet and lost a total of 124 pounds. She eventually partnered with the Magic Johnson Foundation, National Medical Association, and Pfizer to promote awareness of depression in the Black community. She suffered paralysis and also from blindness in one eye for nearly seven months. 1982 Outstanding Actress in a Musical Dreamgirls

Best New Artist

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" 1983 Feel My Soul 1985 Best Inspirational Performance "Come Sunday" 2001 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Ally McBeal

1982 Theatre World Awards

1982 Tony Awards Best Leading Actress in a Musical