The Gift of Love is the fourth studio album and first Christmas album by American singer Jennifer Hudson. It was released on October 18, 2024, by Interscope Records and is her first studio album in ten years.[1] Her first album since JHUD (2014), it features four original songs and ten covers of Christmas standards and carols, two are collaborations with The Joy and Common.[2][3]
In August 2023, Hudson announced she was working on a new album during her talk show.[9] In September 2024 Hudson announced her departure from Epic Records and subsequently announced she had signed a new deal with Interscope Records.[10] Hudson began recording the album after her talk show went on hiatus for the summer.[11][12] In an interview Hudson explained the decision to recorded a Christmas song album:[11]
"I feel like it hasn’t been [a decade] because I sing through everything I do. Through films, commercials, different things, I have never stopped singing. So I didn’t notice that I hadn’t had an official Jennifer Hudson album. But time flies, especially when you’re busy and I’ve been a busy girl. [...] What better way to come back than a Christmas album? It’s been a dream of mine my whole career. I’m a holiday fanatic, so it just makes sense. [...] Holiday music, at least to me, is sentimental. So, like, "The Christmas Song", my grandmother loved this song, so it reminds me of my upbringing and the songs that my grandmother loved or that I used to hear around the house during the holidays"
Promotions
The Gift of Love: An Intimate Live Experience, a tour in the United States which will begin November 24, 2024 in Brooklyn, New York City, and will end in Las Vegas on December 22, 2024.[13][14]
Andy Kellman of AllMusic wrote that the album "has all the trimmings that are to be expected from a holiday recording by a prominent powerhouse" with "tastefully ornate framework with lavish strings and brass, plus robust gospel choirs". Kellman appreciated both her performance in the classic Christmas songs and in the new co-written songs, highlighting "Almost Christmas" where there are "Common with Hudson enhancing the sentiments with graceful and romantic punctuation".[15]
