Jennifer Hudson’s ‘The Gift of Love’ Lands on Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums Chart
Jennifer Hudson‘s first Christmas album, The Gift of Love, has debuted on Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart this week.
The EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner’s first album release under her JHUD Productions imprint in partnership with Interscope Records debuts at No. 10 on this chart, where Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack leads after jumping from No. 48 last week.
According to Billboard, the Top Holiday Albums chart highlights “the week’s most popular holiday albums across all genres and eras, based on multimeric consumption, blending traditional album sales, streaming-equivalent albums and track-equivalent albums, as compiled by Luminate.”
Hudson’s The Gift of Love is surrounded in the top 10 of the Top Holiday Albums chart by other legendary albums confined to the Christmas season.
Here are the R&B and soul artists’ placements in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart this week:
Hudson shared The Gift of Love on Oct. 18. The build-up to the album, executive produced by Ryan Tedder, started in September with the announcement of her new record deal with Interscope Records.
“It’s official!!! So excited to be joining the @interscope family! Get ready, yal! The music is coming!!!” Hudson wrote in an Instagram caption of the signing.
The Gift of Love features 15 tracks, including holiday staples such as Hudson’s renditions of “O Holy Night” and “Winter Wonderland,” as well as original songs like the Common-assisted “Almost Christmas.”
Hudson said about The Gift of Love, “I have been dreaming of this moment for as long as I can remember. As a holiday fanatic, I could not be more excited to give you all this early Christmas gift. My love for this album runs deep. I am beyond grateful for all the amazing people that helped me bring it to life. It has truly been a labor of love!”
“To my family, friends and fans… I hope this collection of songs will be a gift that keeps on giving year after year after year, and that it becomes part of your holiday tradition. My prayer for each of you is that you would find the love! Most of all, I want to thank God for giving us HIS Gift of Love on that holy night when Christ was born,” Hudson added.
Hudson will support The Gift of Love on The Gift of Love: An Intimate Tour Experience, which begins Nov. 24 at the King Theatre in Brooklyn. Tickets are available on her official website.
Further, Hudson has collaborated with Hallmark to mark the 15th anniversary of its Countdown to Christmas programming and its 2024 Joy to Your World holiday campaign by releasing an exclusive original song titled “Let There Be Joy.”
Recently, Hudson honored music icon Dionne Warwick during her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Before this, she paid tribute to the late Whitney Houston at the American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special.
Watch Jennifer Hudson perform “Santa for Someone” on her daytime talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, below.