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Steven Van Zandt: Musician Applauds Jennifer Hudson's Whitney Houston Tribute

Bruce Springsteen, E Street BandKevin Winter, Getty Images


So apparently some fans haven't been very kind about Jennifer Hudson's musical tribute to Whitney Houston at the Grammy Awards, when she sang the iconic 'I Will Always Love You.'
Despite almost no notice and an incredible amount of pressure and emotion, some fans and critics are chastising the singer, saying she should have performed the song in its entirety. Hudson sang a condensed version, and added a "We love you" to the end.

Steven Van Zandt, 'Sopranos' actor and well-known guitarist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, weighed in on her performance while doing press for his Netflix TV show 'Lilyhammer.' Van Zandt was at the Grammys and saw the performance firsthand.

"People don't realize when you sing, and you're singing something emotional -- and this has happened to me -- if you sing the right sequence of notes, you involuntarily cry, just from the combination of notes, and your throat closes up," he told Spinner.

"That's the magical thing that music does. You don't even expect it sometimes. In order to communicate emotion, you must be removed from the emotion to do it -- physically. In her case, she couldn't be removed from the emotion. The fact that she got through that thing as well as she did was just miraculous."

As for the Grammys ceremony itself, Van Zandt believes that Houston's passing added an intensity to the awards that he's never seen before.

"It wasn't overly sombre, which is what I was worried about," he said. "Instead of it turning sombre, it made everything more intense. Everybody kind of stepped it up a notch. That combined with the wonderful production. Every song was a major production! It reminded me of the Super Bowl. Coldplay, McCartney, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift... all terrific. I thought it was maybe the best Grammys ever."

Not far off, it seems, since it was the second-most-watched Grammys ceremony of all time, coming in just below the 1984 production.

Watch Jennifer Hudson's Whitney Houston Grammy Tribute Video
Download Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band Songs | Buy Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band Albums

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Norma

There was no need for Jen Hudson to sing the whole song. She did what she was asked to do. The grammy's asked her to do just what she did. Which is more than alot of other singers did. I love and give Jen Hudson all the honor for doing what she did. The young lady have the heart of a gaint to even be able to sing any so emotional and sad. Jennifer Hudson is truely a top notch superstar. I love and respect her warm spirit and very kind soul. A class act in my book on all levels. We all know what Jhud can do on a mic period!!!

February 18 2012 at 8:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply