After her third studio album
JHUD, published in September 2014 through
RCA Records, Hudson signed a record deal with
Epic Records in June 2016. It was announced a new record project for the singer, under
Clive Davis executive production, publishing the single. Despite the record deal, between 2016 and 2020 Hudson did not published an album, focusing on television and films. In December 2020 she collaborated on
Mariah Carey single "
Oh Santa!" with
Ariana Grande. In 2021 she recorded
Respect: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack through Epic Records and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Music, as the soundtrack album to the 2021 biographical film
Respect in which Hudson acted as
Aretha Franklin. In August 2023, Hudson announced she was working on a new album during her
talk show. In September 2024 Hudson announced her departure from
Epic Records and subsequently announced she had signed a new deal with
Interscope Records. Hudson began recording the album after her talk show went on hiatus for the summer. In an interview Hudson explained the decision to recorded a Christmas song album:"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 ==