Jennifer Hudson Talks About Her Dream Role and Why She's Not Her Son's Favorite Singer

Now that your son David is 5 and can appreciate your music more, what does he think about it?

Well, he told me I'm his second-favorite singer. Michael Jackson is first — and then mommy. He's always around the house making little videos of himself doing Michael Jackson moves. I was telling him recently that, "You know, you were in my tummy when I sang at his memorial." And he was like, "Really? Wow!"

Since her star-making turn as Effie in 2006's Dreamgirls, which took her from American Idol also-ran to Academy Award winner, Jennifer Hudson has left no doubt that she could crush a big ballad. Now on her third album, JHUD (Sept. 23, RCA), the singer-actress flips the script, hitting the dance floor with beats by Pharrell (who produced three tracks) and assists from R. Kelly, Iggy Azalea and T.I. As she gets her new groove on, the Chicago native, 33, dishes on her dream role, going gospel and being sick of singing that song.

An edited version of this story originally appeared in the Sept. 27 issue of Billboard.