Jennifer Hudson surprised the crowd to honor Aretha Franklin at Tuesday’s Pulitzer Prize luncheon, honoring the awards’ 103rd class of winners.
After honoring victims of gun violence in the afternoon’s program, Pulitzer Prize administrator Dana Canedy introduced Hudson as someone who, “too, has experienced unfathomable loss due to gun violence.”
In 2008, Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, her brother, Jason Hudson, and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, were shot to death by her former brother-in-law, William Balfour, in their Chicago home. Balfour was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
“Her flight was canceled yesterday and she drove 14 hours to be here today,” Canedy said about Hudson, also mentioning her upcoming starring role in the Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect.”
Hudson, who previously honored Franklin at the singer’s funeral and at a Grammys tribute to the late icon, performed a moving rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
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