Jennifer Holliday

Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American singer and actress. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1980–1981) and Dreamgirls (1981–1983), and later became a successful recording artist. 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 Award in 1983. She also won a 1982 Tony Award for Dreamgirls.

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 Award nomination. 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".

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 Award and Theatre World Award for her acting performance. Holliday also performed in the touring company of Sing, Mahalia, Sing in 1985. 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. 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. Her follow-up song, "I Am Love", became another hit in 1983. 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). "A Woman's Got the Power" charted at number 7 in summer of 1999. It re-charted the following year, peaking at number 1. She continued to appear on the charts throughout the 1990s, but never had the same level of success she had in the 1980s. 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. 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.

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.^{[citation needed]}