Even for a Grammy and Oscar winner like Jennifer Hudson, singing live as Aretha Franklin in the new biopic “Respect” was a daunting prospect.
“It’s …
Even for a Grammy and Oscar winner like Jennifer Hudson, singing live as Aretha Franklin in the new biopic “Respect” was a daunting prospect. “It’s tricky,” Hudson,39, told In Style. “You don’t want to come off as if you’re mimicking somebody, especially somebody like Aretha.” But Hudson got some help from vocal coach Tom Jones — her former fellow judge on “The Voice UK” — in finding Franklin’s voice while not losing her own. “The resolve was to show her influence on me and pay homage to certain nuances, like the way she shaped her mouth when she sang,” she told USA Today. Here, we break down how the “Dreamgirls” star — who was handpicked by Franklin to play her and even sang at the Queen of Soul’s 2018 funeral — stacks up on five Aretha classics featured on the “Respect” soundtrack. How Aretha Franklin’s tragic life turned her into a demanding diva Why Aretha Franklin’s shocking life of hardship and tragedy —… If there was one song Hudson had to get right in “Respect,” it’s the 1967 hit that inspired the title of the movie.
