Jennifer Holliday

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Jennifer Holliday (born October 19 1960 in Riverside, Texas) is a R&B and dance music singer, plus actress who gained fame for her portrayal of Effie White in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls.

Holiday graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in Houston, Texas in 1978 [link].

Holliday's magnificent performance is remembered as one of the most legendary triumphs in musical theatre. The performance won her a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical and a Grammy award for her rendition of "And I'm Telling You (I'm Not Going)". Her most famous song from that musical, climbed to #22 on the Hot 100 in 1982. She was a featured vocalist on the #1 single "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner in 1985. She has also hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart three times, twice with the same song. "No Frills Love" hit the top spot in 1986 and then reached #1 again ten years later when the track was remixed. She then hit #1 once more in 2000 with "Think It Over." A dance version of her debut single "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" climbed to #6 on the dance chart in 2001. Holliday possesses an enormous, dark contralto of great power and range, which she deploys with devastating force. Her gospel album On & On lays the roots of her style bare, and her rendition of the old hymn "It is well" is perhaps, after "And I'm Telling You (I'm Not Going)", one of her greatest performances.

Apart from her career in the music industry and on the stage, Holliday has also acted in several TV-series. She has done guest appearances in Touched By An Angel and Hang Time but is probably best known for her recurring guest role in Ally McBeal where she played lead choir singer, Lisa Knowles.

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