Jennifer Hudson may have one of the most recognizable voices in entertainment, but at home, her singing apparently serves a much less glamorous purpose: getting her teenage son out of bed on time.
During a recent appearance on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle, the award-winning singer and actress shared a glimpse into her morning routine with 16-year-old David Otunga Jr., revealing that she sometimes wakes him by singing directly to him.
The playful confession came after Jenna Bush Hager asked Hudson whether she ever finds herself breaking into song casually around the house. For Hudson, the answer was an immediate yes — particularly when her son needs to get up.
“That’s how I wake them up,” Hudson said, launching into a playful rendition of a wake-up call. “I saw David, duh duh duh, it’s time to get up. You missed your bus.”
Her son’s reported response was considerably less enthusiastic than the reaction Hudson might receive from an audience at one of her concerts.
“He’ll be like, ‘Mama I’m up,’” she recalled.
The exchange offered a rare, lighthearted look at the relationship between Hudson and her son, whose childhood and teenage years have largely unfolded away from the constant spotlight surrounding his famous mother.
Jennifer Hudson’s voice has a very different role at home
For millions of listeners, Hudson’s voice is associated with major performances, recordings and the extraordinary career that followed her breakthrough in entertainment. At home, however, the same instrument can apparently become part alarm clock, part parent-to-teenager negotiation.
The moment also reflects the more ordinary side of Hudson’s life as a mother. While her professional schedule can involve television, music and other entertainment commitments, her morning routine with David is ultimately familiar to many parents: getting a teenager awake, moving and ready for the day.
Hudson shares David with her former fiancé, David Otunga. The teenager has also shown an interest in music, giving his mother another reason to see her own artistic influence reflected at home.
Hudson previously spoke to Today about her son’s creativity, describing the experience of watching him develop his own abilities as a source of happiness and reassurance.
She recalled the joy of “seeing how creative he already is,” adding that the experience made her more confident. Hudson also said that David “has a good ear” and described him as “a little performer.”
Those observations suggest that music is not simply something Hudson performs professionally; it has become part of the creative environment in which her son is growing up.
That does not necessarily mean David is destined to follow precisely the same career path as his mother. Hudson’s comments, however, indicate that she has noticed his natural musical instincts and enjoys watching them emerge.
A teenager growing up with a famous mother
At 16, David is at an age when greater independence naturally becomes part of family life. For Hudson, that means balancing the privacy and normality of raising a teenager with the realities of being one of the world’s best-known performers.
The mother-son relationship has occasionally appeared in public photographs, including an image Hudson shared in February 2026 showing David attending the 8th Annual American Black Film Festival Honors with her.
Those glimpses are relatively different from Hudson’s professional appearances, where she is accustomed to discussing music, acting and her broader career. Her latest story instead centered on a small domestic ritual — and the fact that her son apparently knows exactly what it means when his mother starts singing at him first thing in the morning.
It is also a reminder that celebrity family life can contain remarkably familiar routines. The setting may be different, but the basic challenge remains recognizable: persuading a teenager that it really is time to get up.
Hudson’s Chicago home is her place to reset
Hudson and her son live in the Chicago area, a city that has continued to represent an important sense of home for the performer.
According to HELLO!, the pair live in a property in Burr Ridge, approximately 17 miles from Chicago. The reported $3 million, 12,000-square-foot residence includes six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, as well as two laundry rooms, a game room, an in-house screening room and a heated garage large enough for six cars.
The scale of the property contrasts with the simplicity of the routine Hudson described on television. Whatever the size of the house, the morning still apparently comes down to a mother trying to get her teenager moving before he misses his bus.
Hudson has previously spoken about what returning home means to her, particularly in the context of a demanding career that regularly takes her away from Chicago.
In an August 2025 interview with Interview Magazine, she reflected on the difficulty of maintaining a demanding schedule while also recognizing the need for rest. Hudson said that being tired should not be interpreted as being ungrateful for professional opportunities, explaining that sometimes people simply need “a little reset and a little rest.”
She also described home as an important emotional anchor.
For Hudson, Chicago represents the place where she can reconnect with routines that become harder to maintain while working. She explained that when she is away, returning home can feel like rediscovering those routines and even “reintroducing yourself to yourself.”
That perspective adds context to her latest comments about mornings with David. Her home life is not merely a backdrop between professional commitments; it appears to be part of the process through which Hudson regains a sense of normality after periods of work and travel.
The quieter side of Jennifer Hudson’s routine
Hudson also described a very different kind of morning routine when she is not working.
Speaking to Interview Magazine, she said she enjoys getting up, having coffee and sitting quietly while listening to the birds. She also spoke about using affirmations and setting an intention for the day.
For someone whose professional life can be built around stages, cameras and audiences, that description is strikingly peaceful.
Yet the reality of parenting a teenager can make even the most tranquil morning unpredictable. Hudson’s comments on Today with Jenna & Sheinelle show that her ideal quiet start to the day can coexist with a much more energetic household routine — including singing loudly enough to make sure David knows he needs to get out of bed.
The two sides of her morning life are not necessarily contradictory. One involves Hudson creating space for herself; the other involves the responsibilities and affection that come with being a parent.
And while the wake-up song may be an amusing family habit, it also captures something fundamental about Hudson’s relationship with her son. Her voice, so central to her public identity, has become part of an intimate family ritual that has nothing to do with applause.
For David Otunga Jr., having a world-famous singer as a mother may mean hearing an extraordinary voice before breakfast — but, as Hudson’s story suggests, that does not make being woken up by it any more appealing when the school bus is waiting.
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Source: Owink
