Jennifer Yvette Holliday was born on October 19, 1960, in Houston, Texas, to Jennie Eaton (née Thomas), a schoolteacher, and Omie Holliday, a minister.
In October 1983, she released her debut album Feel My Soul on Geffen Records. Feel My Soul peaked at number thirty-one on the Billboard 200 and number six on the US Black LPs chart. The album's lead single, "I Am Love", peaked at number forty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the US Hot Black Singles chart. The album earned a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards in 1984. In early 1985, she starred as American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in George Faison's production of Sing Mahalia, Sing!. In August 1985, she released her second album Say You Love Me, which peaked at number thirty-four on the US Top Black Albums chart. The album spawned two top-thirty R&B singles "Hard Time for Lovers" and "No Frills Love", the latter of which peaked atop of the US Hot Dance/Disco Club Play chart. The album also featured a rendition of "Come Sunday" for which she won a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance in 1986.
Her third album, Get Close to My Love, was released in August 1987. Despite positive reviews from music critics, the album was commercial failure. Shortly after, she was dropped by Geffen Records after being deemed unmarketable due to her weight. In November 1987, she briefly joined the touring stage production of The Gospel Truth. In mid-1988, she starred as Aretha Franklin in the touring stage play musical Harlem Suite.
In July 1991, Holliday released her fourth studio album I'm on Your Side on Arista Records. The album's lead single and title-track, "I'm on Your Side"; a cover version of Angela Bofill, peaked at number ten on the US Hot R&B Singles chart. The album's follow-up single "Love Stories" peaked at number twenty-nine on the US Hot R&B Singles chart. Her recording career came to a halt after the release of her gospel album On & On on Intersound Records in 1994. Later that year, she reprised her role as Effie White in the Theater of the Stars production of Dreamgirls. In 1995, she joined the cast of the Broadway revival of Grease as Teen Angel.
1996–2003: Resurgence
In 1996, Geffen Records released a greatest hit compilation album titled The Best of Jennifer Holliday, which anthologized her recordings with the record label. The album also included a remixed version of "No Frills Love" which topped the US Dance Club Play chart. In 1997, she ventured into on-screen acting and began appearing as Lisa Knowles, a recurring role in the American legalcomedy-drama television series Ally McBeal. She also began making guest appearances in other television series including Touched by an Angel and Hang Time. In 1999, Holliday released a single titled "A Woman's Got the Power", which appeared on the compilation album Breaking Through, released in a collaboration between Universal Records and Lifetime. "A Woman's Got the Power" peaked at number seven on the US Dance Club Play chart. The following year, she released a cover version of Cissy Houston's "Think It Over" on Jellybean Recordings, which became her third number-one song on the Dance Club Play chart.
In January 2001, she starred as American blues singer Bessie Smith in an Off-Broadway stage production of Downhearted Blues - The Life and Music of Bessie Smith. She received her first film role as Sadie in the American drama film The Rising Place, released in February 2001. She recorded a song "You've Got to Rise Up" and served as music supervisor for the film's soundtrack. The following year, Holliday returned to doing stage productions where she again reprised her role of Effie White in the Theater of the Stars 2002 production of Dreamgirls, and later appeared in the Langston Hughes's gospel musical Black Nativity.
2007–2019: Return to Broadway
Following the release of film Dreamgirls in 2006, Holliday announced that she felt snubbed by not being invited to appear in the film, despite original musical cast member Loretta Devine making a cameo appearance. However on June 26, 2007, Holliday made a surprise appearance at the BET Awards, performing alongside Jennifer Hudson in a duet performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going". In April 2011, Holliday released a collaborative album with Rev. Raphael G. Warnock titled Goodness and Mercy, on her own Euphonic Records label. She reunited with her original Dreamgirls cast members Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine during the 21st Annual Divas Simply Singing! benefit concert in October 2011. In July 2012, she reprised her role of Effie White at the St. Louis Muny production of Dreamgirls. In 2014, she released her sixth album The Song Is You.
In October 2016, Holliday returned to Broadway in the revival of The Color Purple, portraying the role Shug Avery until January 2017. In May 2019, she released a single titled "Baby, Tonite".
2020–present: Recent activities
In February 2022, she released another single titled "So in Love". Later that year, Holliday competed in season seven of The Masked Singer as "Miss Teddy" of Team Cuddly. She was unmasked on April 13 alongside Duane Chapman as "Armadillo" of Team Good. In February 2025, she released a live album titled Love Songs: Live at the Catalina Jazz Club.
Personal life
Holliday was married twice. Her first husband was a musician named Billy Meadows, whom she married in 1991 after two months of dating. The marriage was short-lived and after nine months, they divorced. Holliday remarked, "The marriage ran out of steam. We just didn't know each other well enough." She married evangelist Andre Woods, on March 21, 1993, at his church in Detroit. After a marriage that was plagued by infidelity and marred by financial abuse from Woods, Holliday divorced him in 1994.
Holliday had weight issues for many years. During her original three-year tenure in the 1980s Broadway musical Dreamgirls, Holliday stated that she had reached her peak-weight of 340 pounds in 1982. Holliday stated that her weight gain stemmed from depression. Contributing factors also included a lack of career opportunities due to her obesity and the loss of her record deal with Geffen Records. The depression ultimately led to a failed attempt at suicide by consuming an overdose of sleeping pills on her thirtieth birthday. In 1989, she underwent gastric bypass surgery and reportedly lost 80 pounds after three months. By August 1991, she reportedly followed a medically supervised diet and lost a total of 124 pounds. She eventually partnered with the Magic Johnson Foundation, National Medical Association, and Pfizer to promote awareness of depression in the Black community. During her The Rosie O'Donnell Show appearance on July 12, 1996, she stated that she had a lost a total of 200 pounds.
In 1999, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She suffered paralysis and also from blindness in one eye for nearly seven months.
↑"Jennifer Holliday Weds Again, Vows 'This Is The One'". Jet. 83 (25). Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company: 34–36. April 19, 1993. ISSN0021-5996. Retrieved May 21, 2012. Ms. Holliday, 32, recently married Bishop Andre Woods, 38, at his church in Detroit. It is the clergyman's first marriage.
↑"Jet – Google Books". Books.google.com. Johnson Publishing Company. December 15, 1997. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
