Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer.

Holliday landed her first big role on Broadway in 1979 at age 18, the same day she auditioned for the Broadway production of Your Arms Too Short to Box with God. Her performance in that musical earned her a 1981 Drama Desk nomination.

She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Dreamgirls (1981–83), Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1980–1981) and later became a successful recording artist.

Her next role, which she began to act at age 21, was the role for which she became best known: the role of Effie Melody White in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. Holliday originated the role of Effie and remained with the show for nearly four years after its December 20, 1981 opening.

Her performance was widely acclaimed, particularly in her iconic rendition of the musical number that ends Act I, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."

She also won a 1982 Tony Award for Dreamgirls.

Among the acclaim was Holliday's sweep of awards in 1982, including the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, a Grammy Award for her recorded version of the song, and Drama Desk and Theater World awards for her acting performance.

In 1982, a pop version of the song was released as a single.

The song became successful, peaking at number one on the Billboard R&B chart, and number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

She continued to have success as a recording artist through the rest of the decade.

She is best known for her debut single, the Dreamgirls number and rhythm-and-blues/pop hit, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", for which she won a Grammy in 1983.

Her follow-up song, "I Am Love", became another hit in 1983.

Holliday also performed in the touring company of Sing, Mahalia, Sing in 1985.

Holliday's later R&B hits included "Hard Time For Lovers" (1985), "No Frills Love" (1985), "I'm On Your Side" (1991) and "A Woman's Got the Power" (2000).

Holliday was a featured vocalist on the number one single "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner in 1985.

A number of her songs became hits on the US Dance charts as well.

On October 30, 1986, Paul Simon hosted a Ken Ehrlich-produced "Gospel Session" originally televised as part of a series of "Cinemax Sessions" featuring Holliday, Luther Vandross, The Oak Ridge Boys, Andrae Crouch, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, and the Mighty Clouds of Joy.

The show began with Holliday singing "His Eye Is On The Sparrow".

Later, she returned to collaborate with Simon and Vandross on "Still Waters Run Deep," followed by an Aretha Franklin arrangement of "Bridge Over Troubled Water, "with the finale consisting of all the participants joining in "Gone at Last", followed by "Amazing Grace".

A reviewer wrote:

Ms. Holliday's performance and Simon's long-term repertoire of gospel-influenced songbook ("Bridge", "Gone at Last", "Slip Slidin' Away", and "Loves Me Like A Rock" [not included here] is the glue that holds the show together. Visually intriguing is the role reversal of a larger-than-life Jennifer Holliday and a waif-thin Luther Vandross. The music, however, is uniformly exciting, mesmerizing and sets the highest-of-high standard for gospel arrangements. You will seldom see a major gospel show without a musical reference to this concert's arrangements.

Holliday became popular with LGBT events and fundraisers, which she acknowledged on her gospel album On & On. Because of this, the Atlantic Entertainment Group's Director of Live Talent, Scott Sherman, produced and promoted many Jennifer Holliday events for several years, acting as both Holliday's de facto agent and as her road manager.

Under Sherman's aegis, Holliday went on a series of special tours and promotions, one-night-only performances, LGBT pride appearances, and special fundraising events.

She continued to appear on the charts throughout the 1990s, but never had the same level of success she had in the 1980s.

In the 1990s, Holliday lost a substantial amount of weight and talked about her health struggles with depression during promotional interviews.

Initially, the weight loss was attained strictly by diet.

Eventually, in an effort to avoid regaining the weight, Holliday had gastric bypass surgery.

After the initial weight loss, she released an LP and video titled I’m On Your Side. The video, unlike most videos, was recorded live.

In 1995, Holliday released the gospel album On & On. In a March 2008 interview, she revealed that she was in the studio working on a new album, to be released later that year.

In 1998, Holliday was featured on the album, My Favorite Broadway Ladies as one of "The Queens of Broadway."

Holliday's version of the song "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" made her a star on Broadway and catapulted her to national stardom.

"A Woman's Got the Power" charted at number 7 in summer of 1999.

It re-charted the following year, peaking at number 1.

A dance version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" peaked at number 6 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 2001.

In April 2011, Holliday released a Christian CD titled Goodness and Mercy on her own Euphonic Records label.

She produced it in conjunction and cooperation with the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, later elected United States Senator from Georgia.

At the St. Louis Muny, Holliday reprised her role of Effie White in their production of Dreamgirls, running from July 16 to July 22, 2012.

She has stated that she does not plan to return to the role again.

Apart from her career in the music industry and on the stage, Holliday has also made appearances on primetime television.

In addition to appearances on Touched by an Angel and Hang Time, she had a half dozen appearances in a recurring guest star role on Ally McBeal, where she acted out the role of choir director Lisa Knowles, often singing popular ballads.