Love is in the air! Jennifer Hudson and Common were pictured cozying up on the sidelines of a Chicago Bears game on December 20. The pair celebrated a significant milestone in their relationship this last year—their three-year anniversary.
After Hudson and Common met through work, romance rumors started swirling around back in 2022 when they were on a project together, but they didn’t go public until 2024. As they ring in three years together, let’s take a walk down memory lane to see how their love affair began.
Hudson & Common Stay Warm While Cheering on the Bears
The fashionable couple were sporting matching grins as they posed for a photo, with Hudson representing their team with her Chicago Bears scarf.
A Match Made in Heaven: Hudson & Common Are Both Successful Artists
GettyThis Hollywood match has more than just love between them, as the two both have long and successful careers in the entertainment industry.
Hudson was a beloved contestant on the third season of “American Idol” back in 2004, where she finished in seventh place but went on to become a global superstar. Hudson is one of the few stars to earn EGOT status, meaning she has won all four major American entertainment awards: the Emmy (for producing the daytime program “Baba Yaga”), the Grammy (for her self-titled album as well as the cast album for “The Color Purple” stage musical), the Oscar (for her performance as Effie White in “Dreamgirls”) and the Tony (for producing “A Strange Loop”). She’s also the youngest woman to ever do it, being just 40 years old when she achieved this accolade in June 2022.
Common has earned three Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award (for “Letter to the Free” from “13th”), and an Academy Award and a Golden Globe (for “Glory” with John Legend). The rapper and actor has even joked in the past that they have an “equally yoked” relationship during a conversation with Samantha Chatman on the “Mama, I Made It!” podcast.
Hudson & Common Go Public With Their Relationship
Dating rumors started between Hudson and Common in 2022 during production of the action thriller “Breathe,” where they portrayed a married couple. Months after their casting was announced, the couple sparked dating rumors when they were reportedly spotted together in Philadelphia and Chicago.
They went public with their relationship in January 2024 during an appearance on Hudson’s daytime talk show, “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” When Hudson asked Common, who was that episode’s guest, if he was currently dating anyone, Common told her, “I’m in a relationship that is with one of the most beautiful people I’ve met in life. She’s smart, she loves God, she has something real down to earth about her. She’s talented. But I set my standard kind of high ’cause she had to have the EGOT.” Though he never said Hudson’s name, the audience caught onto his teasing.
Common later talked about his appearance on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” and going public with their relationship during an interview on TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.
“We had a little fun,” Common said of the interview. “I felt like, why not just be loving and honest with who I am and who we are. And it felt good, it was fun, we had a good time.”
He said that he’s a “very private” person when it comes to his personal life and “things that are sacred,” but they “had a good time” on Hudson’s show.
In July 2024, Hudson was featured on Common’s song “A GOD (There Is)” from his album “The Auditorium Vol. 1.”
“I loved it,” the rapper told PEOPLE about working with Hudson. “When I played it to musician friends, they were like, ‘Who is that singing?’ I’m like, ‘That’s Jennifer!’ It doesn’t sound like things you’ve heard from her before. I love that we were able to utilize her gifts in a new space. She brought it, man.”
