*Jennifer Hudson sat down with “CBS Sunday Morning” and took a trip to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to absorb for the first time the studio where “I’ve Never Loved a Man (The Way That I Love You)” was recorded. She also met with the real musicians who backed Aretha Franklin on the recording, a riveting scene depicted in her upcoming Franklin biopic “Respect,” due in theaters on Aug. 13.
Franklin’s signature song “Respect” was originally recorded by Otis Redding in 1965. But her version, released two years later, is the one that became a classic. CBS contributor Kelefa Sanneh asked Hudson, “Why do you think that song, ‘Respect,’ has become such a touchstone?”
“Think about what it represents,” she replied. “You mean to tell me a Black woman in the civil rights era was bold enough to come and take a man’s song, make it her own song, make it an anthem, and it’s a representation of people and of that time? That’s powerful.”
“The movie’s called ‘Respect,’ it’s about Aretha Franklin, the movie’s gonna live or die based on your performance of this song, right?” asked Sanneh.
“Don’t kill me!” Hudson laughed. She said, “That is the song, out of all the songs, that stunted me, that made me stop, say, ‘Wait a minute…'”
Watch “CBS Sunday Morning’s” entire feature on Hudson and “Respect,” including never-before-seen clips from the film, below:
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