JENNIFER HUDSON SINGS NATIONAL ANTHEM @ SUPERBOWL 43 VIDEO + PICS

Oscar Winner Jennifer Hudson made her first public appearance since the murder of her family members at the Superbowl. 

JHud's voice was beautiful, soulful and strong despite her pain. We would rate her performance up there with Whitney Houston's historic rendition of the song sung at Superbowl 25. Click here for more Superbowl pics including photos of Rihanna's kickoff concert with Fall Out Boy, Direct TV's Celebrity Superbowl Beach Party and Bruce Springsteen at Half Time.

Jennifer Hudson doesn’t always get the material her prodigious voice deserves. But that wasn’t the case Sunday to open the Super Bowl as she took on the National Anthem, a demanding warhorse that requires superior vocal chops to successfully navigate. It was the 27-year-old Chicago native’s first public performance since the slaying of her mother, brother and nephew in their Englewood home on Oct. 24. Teetering on high heels with a sober expression, she began and ended the performance with an audible sigh. In between, she was focused and in terrific voice. She began deliberately, then swung low to bring a chilling resonance to the word “gleaming.” Though she stretched a few notes, she didn’t oversell the song or her voice. She reveled in its power. The final “home of the brave” was a howitzer into the heavens.

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