Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer Yvette Holliday, born on October 19, 1960, in Riverside, Texas, is an American actress and singer. She began singing at a young age in her local church. Her breakthrough came with the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, where she portrayed Effie White starting in 1982. Her powerful performance earned her numerous accolades, including a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going" (1983). This song reached number 22 on the Pop charts and topped the R&B charts. Jennifery Holliday's debut album Feel My Soul was released in 1983, produced by Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire. Her subsequent albums include Say You Love Me (1985), which featured collaborations with Michael Jackson and Arthur Baker, and Get Close to My Love (1987). In 1994, Jennifer Holliday released the gospel album On & On. She also ventured into acting, appearing in television series such as Ally McBeal and films like The Rising Place. Jennifer Holliday returned to Broadway in 2001 for a role in Chicago, and she was inducted into the Berklee College of Music's Hall of Fame in 2000. She continued her musical journey in the 2010s, putting out LPs such as Goodness & Mercy (2011) and The Song Is You (2014).