Jennifer Hudson knocked her performance of ‘I’ll Fight’ out of the park at the Oscars on Feb. 24 – a fitting tribute to the docu-film ‘RBG’ and its subject Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Jennifer Hudson, 37, rose to the occasion on Feb. 24 when she took to the stage during the Academy Awards in Los Angeles to perform, “I’ll Fight.” The song, which was nominated for an Oscar, was featured at the end of the 2018 documentary RBG, about the Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85. Jennifer sang a snippet of the song in front of a mock-up of the Supreme Court, looking powerful in a tuxedo with a jacket that featured a lengthy train. Flashed on the screen behind her were images of women marching for their civil rights, as well as pics of Justice Ginsburg and clips from the documentary. Jennifer ended her brief performance with a raised fist.
Written by Diane Warren, “I’ll Fight” is a celebration of Ginsburg’s life, career and her fight for equality and justice. The lyrics include uplifting lines like, “So I’ll fight, fight that war for you. I’ll fight, stand and defend you. Take your side, that’s what I’m here to do. I’ll be there to be strong.” Speaking of her inspiration for the song, Diane told ASCAP.com in January, “I wanted it to be strong. I wanted it to show that she is a fighter, and this is what she’d been doing for years, even before she was on the Supreme Court bench. I loved the dichotomy of getting Jennifer Hudson to sing it, because [Justice Ginsburg] speaks so softly, but so powerfully. It’s almost like Jennifer Hudson’s voice became her avatar, because that’s what she really sounds like to us. She’s a diva. She’s [the] notorious RBG. So I didn’t want it to be soft. I wanted it to have power.”
Jennifer, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2007 for Dream Girls, told Diane during a joint interview with Variety in November 2018, “It’s for this movie, but it’s my song too – I feel like you wrote me a song for my life. I feel like I’m telling my story while I’m singing it.”
Directed by Academy Award nominees Betsy West and Julie Cohen, RBG did surprisingly well at the box office in summer 2018 despite only having a limited release. The Magnolia Pictures documentary grossed $6 million in just four weeks, according to an Aug. 31, 2018 article in the LA Times. Undoubtedly the film’s popularity had a lot to do with the cult-like status of Justice Ginsburg, who has been dubbed the Notorious RBG by millennials in a nod to her fellow Brooklynite, the late rapper, The Notorious B.I.G. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg really laid the groundwork that has become so relevant for women who are fighting for their rights,” Betsy told IndieWire in November 2018. “There’s something about her story that just makes people feel good and inspires people.”
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