(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Jennifer Hudson drew from diary entries she wrote following the murders of her family members for her new album.
The 29-year-old American songstress was left devastated in October 2008 when her mother Darnell Donerson, her brother Jason Hudson and her seven-year-old nephew Julian King were found dead having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Jennifer is still coming to terms with the loss and has found music has helped her deal with her grief.
Jennifer teamed up with OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder to work on a song for her latest album and she showed him intimate diary entries she wrote shortly after the killings took place. Ryan is no stranger to dealing with emotional lyrics, having been previously involved with production for Beyonc Knowles ballad Halo and Leona Lewis smash hit Bleeding Love.
Ryan was overwhelmed by the insight into Jennifers feelings and did his best to accurately convey the emotions she was dealing with.
"She sends me an e-mail with a diary entry dated right after her family was... and it was, literally, her thoughts immediately after that happened. It started with the phrase, 'I remember me. I used to smile. I used to know love. I used to laugh. I used to hear things, he told MTV News. "She said, 'You're the one to write the song. I want you to put music and melody to these words,' and so I pulled as much as I could from it and tried to turn it around and what we ended up with is I Remember Me, which is the name of her album."
Ryan is pleased with the track and was thrilled to be given the opportunity to collaborate with the R&B star. He has revealed Remember Me is the most heartfelt song he has ever worked on and it gives him chills when he listens to it.
"I have to give a big-up to Jennifer Hudson," he added. "I did the title cut for her new album, I Remember Me. I produced and wrote that with her and its, honestly, probably the most emotional song I've ever been involved with in my entire career."
Jennifers new album is due to be released next month. (C) Cover Media