Jennifer Hudson

A seventh-place American Idol finisher whose career has since topped those of the show's winners, Jennifer Hudson was seemingly living a charmed life until recently. After all, she went from nobody to superstar singer and Oscar-winning actress in just a few years. Then last fall, her mother, brother, and nephew were murdered in Chicago, an event that understandably sent Hudson into seclusion. She re-emerged at the 2009 Super Bowl to lip-sync the national anthem, and now joins R&B crooner Robin Thicke on this tour behind her 2008 self-titled album, which was released less than a month before the murders.

Updated 10/29/2010