Of course I knew of her legendary performance in Dream Girls, but this interviews shows what an intelligent, tell it like it is person she has become. Very admirable.
i saw jennifer holliday sing i am telling you im not going 7 times live on Broadway it is the best eleventh hour song i have ever seen in 50 years of broadway musicals .every performance she got a standing ovation after 5:18 the song. the most thrilling moments ever
I am 56 years old from Texas, This Lady has made an impact on my life since I was a little girl. I was very upset when Jennifer Hudson song your song. No body can ever take your place... I love you and you should have played in the movie, Dream Girls. I am not lost into Celebrities and I saw you as natural natural.. I love you. May the Creator God Bless and Keep you safe, healthy and joyful.
whoever posted this, thx u! She is so poised, so intelligent, and like a southerner tells it exactly how it went down! Unfortunately so many people in theatre want to throw shade and write her off as unhinged. In 80's no one talked about depression, & still now you are expected to suck it up & deal with it. Love that all the Barbra albums helped to create the 10 o'clock number. Jennifer is and will always be amazing!!🥰
What I find so interesting about her recounts of the history is that things were so regional back then. She was from Houston so she wasn’t hip to the Broadway politics and she brought that southern pride with her to NYC.
I love Jennifer Holliday. She is a comical later. Never have had the opportunity to see a Broadway show, but I know if Jennifer is in it, enough said. Love ya Ms. Holliday.
Florence Ballard did not die from alcoholism...She died of a pulmonary thrombosis. Nowhere in history does it say she died of alcoholism. She was treated for Alcoholism years before she died.
Good day Ms. Holliday. I became aware of your talent back in 1983 when you visited your almamater, Booker T. Washington High here in Houston, TX. At the time of my attendance, Herman Wesley was the Principal. When you arrived, I will admit I had not paired the voice that was being played in rotation on the then new R&B station (KMJK - Majic 102.1 FM). When I saw you and there was the resounding demand from the audience for you to sing, I was struck by a reality that whether or not I was the best academically in high school, I could fulfill my desire to become an acclaimed singer. While as of this message that has yet to come to fruition, I still hold out a morsel of hope anything is possible. Because I consider you my favorite vocalist who spans genres of music, I nonetheless hold you in high esteem. Especially in this day and age when all you have to do is pull up a video of your favorite anything or anybody on RUclips and see what they are doing. That’s what I did recently. In a video on the “theatertalk” channel on RUclips, published on Nov 27, 2016, you speak very candidly about your 40 year plus career in the entertainment industry, your very public working relationship with Michael Bennett and your chance run in with Ethel Merman. However, as a fan who has not reached his goal in what was set out over 30 years ago, there was one part of the video I found particularly concerning. You respond at 2:12 into the video when asked by the hosts if you go back and look at earlier videos of yourself, “I don’t…it was such an awkward size for me.” you say. “I don’t’ feel like I want to go back there.” I used the word concerning because the older I get, the more it’s easy for me to blame why I haven’t reached my goals on my looks and presentation. Whereas that wasn’t a hindrance for you. You were introduced to the world as a full figured woman. You became a Grammy winner as a full figured woman. You became a Tony Award recipient as a full figured woman. Thankfully, you have maintained this more svelte size for a couple of decades. But for those like myself who struggle with body dysphoria issues, to see you have recorded a statement that lends itself to embarrassment during a time you were most popular and celebrated in your career is somewhat counter productive. Over the years, God has given me a love for His Word in the form of ministry. I currently operate in the office of Apostle. So when I heard your statement, I was reminded of the scripture in Zechariah 4:10 Living Bible (TLB) as it reads, “Do not despise this small beginning, for the eyes of the Lord rejoice to see the work begin…” While the passage refers to the temple God had commanded Zechariah to build, often times we take our eyes off of His building plans specific to us because we become distracted by what looks like someone who has more. Our construction may not be as large, but it is what God has commanded us to build and find contentment in. In that vain, God doesn’t make mistakes. We as a people may find from time to time our lives can use some “improvement”, but His original schematics, if you will were never in error concerning us. You were supposed to be the size you were at the time we were introduced to you. You let the broad entertainment industry see that a woman at your then size could present a song with so much soul and dynamics, that from that moment on, your mold would be the one used to inspire people of that size or larger they can in fact become successful, regardless of the sometimes unrealistic standard it has established with respect to physical presentation. In theory, you were conducting a type of ministry. Encouraging people who didn’t’ have a perfect presentation, that talent will win out (no pun intended) every time. I respect your work. Again, it was because of your visit to Booker T. Washington in 1983 that convinced me maybe, just maybe I can make it as well. But if I think in terms of resenting my past, I’m telling God He makes constant inaccuracies and that He is a mass producer of inept product. Ephesians 1:4 New International Version (NIV) reads, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” The interpretation I communicate to people about this scripture is that God had a board meeting with Himself. Obviously He did not need or required the assistance of anyone else. He literally forecast and planned infinity, which included you, me and others who may feel or felt at one time a sense of inadequacy. In the video starting at 14:32 - 14:43, you speak of the bitter breakup of your father and mother and while you have never at the time had a relationship that was tumultuous, you did survive the real life ordeal between your parents, which aided in your circumventing that experience into one of the most legendary presentations of any song during the 1982 telecast of the Tony Awards as you sang, “And I Am Telling You, I’m Not Going”. In all of the incarnations, no one will ever be able to deliver the soul stirring rendition you cemented in time. This is why I write to you. At some point, in spite of your accomplishments and celebrity, you will have to get to a place whereby you revisit those old performances and albeit challenging to watch, you resolve peace and closure with who you were. That period of time greatly contributed to who you are now. Lastly, I was told that everyone wants to get to the highest step. What we sometimes forget is that it took that first step to get us to the ascension some of us enjoy and lavish in today. Continue to give us awesome performances that are immortalized on RUclips for the world to benefit from. May success be your testimony!!!, Apostle C. D. Woods, Sr. Founder/ Visionary / Sr. Pastor Authentic Ministries “A Perfect Balance Of People” Prevail & Triumph Fellowship Church “Your Victory Is Achieved And Proven"
Jennifer Holliday...is a Broadway icon, and one of the most influential "soul singers" of the last 45 yrs. I say she's influential, because there are female singers, both black, white and otherwise, who "copy" Jennifer's style and approach to singing, and they dont even know they're stealing from her...Jennifer Hudson is one of those women. Thats!..when you know that you have influenced an entire generation of singers. Her voice is unmistakable..and she is the quintessential "singer's singer". A true-blue pro and legend.
omg I love hearing her talk and she is so eloquent omg!! I literally had to press pause just to pour it out. She is really amazing. It's funny because I first heard of her when i was watching ally mcbeal a show that i love dearly and she was singing in a choir and had a small part in it (two episodes from season 2 and 4 I believe and she was splendid) then I heard about Dreamgirls the musical maybe after the movie in 2006. I wasn't acquainted with Broadway productions back then, here in France it's not a thing. I still did some research though and remembered her voice from her part in AMB right away that's how I found out she was the original Effie and rightfully so.
if you take anything away from dreamgirls its HER song. i can see why they asked her to come back she added EVERYTHING ND MORE i wanna meet her one day ❤️
What happened to the off-off-Broadway performance of Jennifer Holliday’s One Woman Show--was this run recorded or documented? She literally sang the roof off the place. I remember floating above my seat. It was a theotic event of grand portions.
35 yrs ago! that means she would be in her mid 50's in this interview and yet she's sitting there looking like she's 32 or 33 and sure enough putting some of these young chicklins running around today TOO SHAME! love you MISS HOLIDAY.
So disappointed in her backing out on President Elect Trump. I'm just saying I will not be purchasing anymore of her music. You had a chance Holliday to make a difference and you ran away.
If she did not want to sing for Trump, that was her right! and anyway, she didn't mind singing for him... she received so many death threats she changed her mind. You didn't buy her music anyway.. Quit lying.. she doesn't want your pennies anyway. Jennifer you are great!
Breezy Wheezy Amen amen you're so right. The truth!!! I love ❤️ Jennifer. I wouldn't have song either getting threats on her life. Which was sad. She's beautiful 😀
⭐⭐⭐⭐ I had the fortune to see JENNIFER HOLLIDAY on Broadway in "DreamGirls" and she truly is an icon plus a lovely lady.
I love Jennifer Holiday and this interviews demonstrates how authentic she is...amazing.
This is one of the BEST interviews I have ever seen with Jennifer. I loved every minute of it.
@mikhiel troyah b '
Não ķ ķg
Of course I knew of her legendary performance in Dream Girls, but this interviews shows what an intelligent, tell it like it is person she has become. Very admirable.
What a beautiful soul! I prefer when Jennifer doesnt belt or growls the song, but just sings out like she is singing in The Color Purple.
An excellent interview. Jennifer Holiday is so down to earth, honest and 'real'. So glad I got to see her in Dream Girls!
i saw jennifer holliday sing i am telling you im not going 7 times live on Broadway it is the best eleventh hour song i have ever seen in 50 years of broadway musicals .every performance she got a standing ovation after 5:18 the song. the most thrilling moments ever
This is the very definition of a true star. What a woman! 🥰
I am 56 years old from Texas, This Lady has made an impact on my life since I was a little girl. I was very upset when Jennifer Hudson song your song. No body can ever take your place... I love you and you should have played in the movie, Dream Girls.
I am not lost into Celebrities and I saw you as natural natural.. I love you.
May the Creator God Bless and Keep you safe, healthy and joyful.
I agree. I like Hudson but don’t like any of the JH songs she sings . She doesn’t have the power . Nobody does.
The utterly divine Jennifer Holliday.
well I knew Miss Holliday could sing. I did NOT know she's so funny!
thanks for posting.
whoever posted this, thx u! She is so poised, so intelligent, and like a southerner tells it exactly how it went down! Unfortunately so many people in theatre want to throw shade and write her off as unhinged. In 80's no one talked about depression, & still now you are expected to suck it up & deal with it. Love that all the Barbra albums helped to create the 10 o'clock number. Jennifer is and will always be amazing!!🥰
What a gracious and beautiful talent. I met her before and she is a very nice lady. Love her voice!!! She is aging backwards, lol. Great interview!!
I LOVE THAT INTERVIEW... SO INTERESTING AND FASCINATING!
What I find so interesting about her recounts of the history is that things were so regional back then. She was from Houston so she wasn’t hip to the Broadway politics and she brought that southern pride with her to NYC.
Her version of And I’m telling you is the standard for every aspiring singer!
Wow this is an absolute treat. Fascinating stuff, and what a wonderful woman! Great stories!
Excellent interview of a truly unique and immensely talented lady.
I didn’t expect her to be such a great interview! Found her so interesting.😊
Such a great interview! Saw her in "Dreamgirls" when it was on Broadway and met her many years later. She really is a nice person!
I love Jennifer Holliday. She is a comical later. Never have had the opportunity to see a Broadway show, but I know if Jennifer is in it, enough said. Love ya Ms. Holliday.
Florence Ballard did not die from alcoholism...She died of a pulmonary thrombosis. Nowhere in history does it say she died of alcoholism. She was treated for Alcoholism years before she died.
Doobe J Thank you for pointing that out.
Good day Ms. Holliday. I became aware of your talent back in 1983 when you visited your almamater, Booker T. Washington High here in Houston, TX. At the time of my attendance, Herman Wesley was the Principal. When you arrived, I will admit I had not paired the voice that was being played in rotation on the then new R&B station (KMJK - Majic 102.1 FM). When I saw you and there was the resounding demand from the audience for you to sing, I was struck by a reality that whether or not I was the best academically in high school, I could fulfill my desire to become an acclaimed singer. While as of this message that has yet to come to fruition, I still hold out a morsel of hope anything is possible. Because I consider you my favorite vocalist who spans genres of music, I nonetheless hold you in high esteem. Especially in this day and age when all you have to do is pull up a video of your favorite anything or anybody on RUclips and see what they are doing. That’s what I did recently. In a video on the “theatertalk” channel on RUclips, published on Nov 27, 2016, you speak very candidly about your 40 year plus career in the entertainment industry, your very public working relationship with Michael Bennett and your chance run in with Ethel Merman. However, as a fan who has not reached his goal in what was set out over 30 years ago, there was one part of the video I found particularly concerning. You respond at 2:12 into the video when asked by the hosts if you go back and look at earlier videos of yourself, “I don’t…it was such an awkward size for me.” you say. “I don’t’ feel like I want to go back there.” I used the word concerning because the older I get, the more it’s easy for me to blame why I haven’t reached my goals on my looks and presentation. Whereas that wasn’t a hindrance for you. You were introduced to the world as a full figured woman. You became a Grammy winner as a full figured woman. You became a Tony Award recipient as a full figured woman. Thankfully, you have maintained this more svelte size for a couple of decades. But for those like myself who struggle with body dysphoria issues, to see you have recorded a statement that lends itself to embarrassment during a time you were most popular and celebrated in your career is somewhat counter productive. Over the years, God has given me a love for His Word in the form of ministry. I currently operate in the office of Apostle. So when I heard your statement, I was reminded of the scripture in Zechariah 4:10 Living Bible (TLB) as it reads, “Do not despise this small beginning, for the eyes of the Lord rejoice to see the work begin…” While the passage refers to the temple God had commanded Zechariah to build, often times we take our eyes off of His building plans specific to us because we become distracted by what looks like someone who has more. Our construction may not be as large, but it is what God has commanded us to build and find contentment in. In that vain, God doesn’t make mistakes. We as a people may find from time to time our lives can use some “improvement”, but His original schematics, if you will were never in error concerning us. You were supposed to be the size you were at the time we were introduced to you. You let the broad entertainment industry see that a woman at your then size could present a song with so much soul and dynamics, that from that moment on, your mold would be the one used to inspire people of that size or larger they can in fact become successful, regardless of the sometimes unrealistic standard it has established with respect to physical presentation. In theory, you were conducting a type of ministry. Encouraging people who didn’t’ have a perfect presentation, that talent will win out (no pun intended) every time. I respect your work. Again, it was because of your visit to Booker T. Washington in 1983 that convinced me maybe, just maybe I can make it as well. But if I think in terms of resenting my past, I’m telling God He makes constant inaccuracies and that He is a mass producer of inept product. Ephesians 1:4 New International Version (NIV) reads, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” The interpretation I communicate to people about this scripture is that God had a board meeting with Himself. Obviously He did not need or required the assistance of anyone else. He literally forecast and planned infinity, which included you, me and others who may feel or felt at one time a sense of inadequacy. In the video starting at 14:32 - 14:43, you speak of the bitter breakup of your father and mother and while you have never at the time had a relationship that was tumultuous, you did survive the real life ordeal between your parents, which aided in your circumventing that experience into one of the most legendary presentations of any song during the 1982 telecast of the Tony Awards as you sang, “And I Am Telling You, I’m Not Going”. In all of the incarnations, no one will ever be able to deliver the soul stirring rendition you cemented in time. This is why I write to you. At some point, in spite of your accomplishments and celebrity, you will have to get to a place whereby you revisit those old performances and albeit challenging to watch, you resolve peace and closure with who you were. That period of time greatly contributed to who you are now. Lastly, I was told that everyone wants to get to the highest step. What we sometimes forget is that it took that first step to get us to the ascension some of us enjoy and lavish in today. Continue to give us awesome performances that are immortalized on RUclips for the world to benefit from.
May success be your testimony!!!,
Apostle C. D. Woods, Sr.
Founder/ Visionary / Sr. Pastor
Authentic Ministries “A Perfect Balance Of People”
Prevail & Triumph Fellowship Church “Your Victory Is Achieved And Proven"
And forgive me for not saying what a great interview this is before fact-checking you guys! This really is great work.
Jennifer Holliday...is a Broadway icon, and one of the most influential "soul singers" of the last 45 yrs. I say she's influential, because there are female singers, both black, white and otherwise, who "copy" Jennifer's style and approach to singing, and they dont even know they're stealing from her...Jennifer Hudson is one of those women. Thats!..when you know that you have influenced an entire generation of singers. Her voice is unmistakable..and she is the quintessential "singer's singer". A true-blue pro and legend.
I love her honesty, rawness, and just simply real!
I love this woman! I am her #1fan
Lovely soul...lovely...glad she survived and is still thriving...
omg I love hearing her talk and she is so eloquent omg!! I literally had to press pause just to pour it out. She is really amazing. It's funny because I first heard of her when i was watching ally mcbeal a show that i love dearly and she was singing in a choir and had a small part in it (two episodes from season 2 and 4 I believe and she was splendid) then I heard about Dreamgirls the musical maybe after the movie in 2006. I wasn't acquainted with Broadway productions back then, here in France it's not a thing. I still did some research though and remembered her voice from her part in AMB right away that's how I found out she was the original Effie and rightfully so.
Wow, can't believe she's so young for dream girls. She expressed emotions like a woman who has been through some things in life.
Wonderful interview . I am so glad she’s on Broadway again. 😃
Deceptively brilliant! Southernism encapsulated.
Brilliantly said.
Bomb interview!!!!!!
I am a big fan of Jennifer Holliday! Greetings from Germany
Great interview
if you take anything away from dreamgirls its HER song. i can see why they asked her to come back she added EVERYTHING ND MORE i wanna meet her one day ❤️
Wow! Love Jennifer!!!!!!!
I truly appreciate and love her!!!
LOL. SHES FUNNY.
Streisand was self-taught and she held those notes because as she says I wanted to. This technique became a thing called the "Streisand Method."
haha!she said oh hell yeah o'm comomg back!😂😅😄😁😀😊☺🙂😐
What happened to the off-off-Broadway performance of Jennifer Holliday’s One Woman Show--was this run recorded or documented? She literally sang the roof off the place. I remember floating above my seat. It was a theotic event of grand portions.
Wow!!! Just wow!!! No vocal coach? Whew!!!
35 yrs ago! that means she would be in her mid 50's in this interview and yet she's sitting there looking like she's 32 or 33 and sure enough putting some of these young chicklins running around today TOO SHAME! love you MISS HOLIDAY.
I love this damn interview!!!!!!!! Jennifer ROCKS!
She's beautiful ...not aging
That's an interview.
What kind of person threatens a woman like this, with death, for singing?
"Where would they get it from?" Be excellent, claim the space you've earned and let them have it.
LEGAND !!!!
She looks younger than she was 22.
24:00
🤪😅💕😎
So disappointed in her backing out on President Elect Trump. I'm just saying I will not be purchasing anymore of her music. You had a chance Holliday to make a difference and you ran away.
I respectfully disagree, John D. I believe that Jennifer has done a very courageous thing. -SH
true
If she did not want to sing for Trump, that was her right! and anyway, she didn't mind singing for him... she received so many death threats she changed her mind. You didn't buy her music anyway.. Quit lying.. she doesn't want your pennies anyway. Jennifer you are great!
John D oh shh... it's her decision. Wether you buy her stuff or not she's still goin' to sell so....
Breezy Wheezy Amen amen you're so right. The truth!!! I love ❤️ Jennifer. I wouldn't have song either getting threats on her life. Which was sad. She's beautiful 😀