The EGOT winner shares how her boyfriend Common and her son both pitched in on the creation of her latest project
Jennifer Hudson/Instagram
Jennifer Hudson and her son David Daniel Otunga Jr.
Jennifer Hudson recently enlisted the help of two loved ones.
The daytime talk show host, 43, exclusively tells PEOPLE how her 15-year-old son David Daniel Otunga Jr. and her boyfriend Common both pitched in to make some holiday magic on her new Christmas project.
“[My son] helped name this holiday album, The Gift of Love,” Hudson says of Otunga Jr. — whom she shares with her ex-fiancé, former WWE star David Otunga — while chatting about her Old Navy holiday campaign.
“He’s a holiday fanatic just like me. He’s been very present within this whole thing,” the EGOT winner adds. “We would sit by the fireplace, watch holiday movies together. He even went ‘Mama, this song right here is my favorite song off of the Christmas album.’ Giving his two cents. He’s encouraging, he helped me learn different notes.”
Chris Haston/Warner Bros.
Common and Jennifer Hudson on her talk show in 2024
The Gift of Love, released in October, is Hudson’s first holiday album and first album since the Respect soundtrack in 2021 and JHUD in 2014.
“Everything is family-oriented, even that process,” Hudson emphasizes.
But a love for music and the holidays is not the only thing Hudson hopes to pass on, as she hopes to instill an important Christmas tradition: giving.
“He’s always looking for gifts to give others,” Hudson says of her son. “He’s a giver. And that’s how he was raised. That’s the tradition that’s within him. He is very much like me. He loves to see everyone come together and have dinner together, have a good time together and seeing the unity in it all.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The duo will spend Christmas this year, like they do every year, by heading to Hudson’s hometown of Chicago: “We call it ‘flying in for Christmas.’ “
Hudson’s son was not the only person close to her who helped with the album. Hudson and Common, who have sparked dating rumors since 2022 and confirmed their romantic relationship in January 2024, collaborated on the track, “Almost Christmas.”
“I was saying ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,’ and then he came in and he flipped it and started freestyling it and made it really personal,” Hudson recalls. “Then I was like, ‘Actually, this would be a really cool idea for my holiday album where [he] does [his] interpretation of what that would be.’ And then the singing part came along, which is just us welding our musical worlds together.”
Hudson’s album release coincides with her “Love is in the House” collaboration with Old Navy. The Gift of Love will be sold at select Old Navy stores in cities where Hudson is touring such as Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York City.
“To think I get to go into Old Navy and one, shop, and two, see my holiday album, that’s a Christmas gift in itself for me,” Hudson says.
