How Jennifer Hudson stays true to self amid fame

At just 29, Jennifer Hudson has already achieved a lifetime of success, quickly catapulting from "American Idol" cast-off in 2004 to a Grammy-winning singer and Oscar-winning actress.

Since getting the Academy Award for supporting actress for the 2006, film "Dream Girls," Hudson says she's been going non-stop.

On "The Early Show," Hudson said, "That's part of why my (new) album is named I Remember Me. I felt like I hopped on this huge roller coaster that hasn't stopped since. And so it's my way of holding onto myself."

Co-anchor Chris Wragge noted that Hudson has said in the past 29 years of her life she's lived four lives. Alongside great highs in her career, have come indescribable lows in her personal life, with the murders of her mother, brother, and nephew in 2008.

Jennifer Hudson rocks out on "The Early Show"

The music, Hudson said, is how she expresses herself.

Video: Jennifer Hudson sings "Happy Birthday" to lucky fans

She said, "I get people who say, 'How do you get through this and how do you do different things and just find your way?' and so that was the best way I could put it into words and that's how I came with up with I Remember Me."

Bill Werde, editorial director of Billboard magazine, said Hudson's new album shows the singer is "easing into a more adult place."

He said, "She's more comfortable with her talents, more comfortable with who she is, more comfortable with where she's going."

Lisa Paige, an on-air personality for 92.3 NOW FM in New York, added, "Her voice is amazing. It's so effortless. She just opens her mouth and these ridiculous vocals come out."

Hudson not only sounds great, she looks great, crediting her 80-pound weight loss to getting fit for her most important role as mom to 2-year-old son, David.

"She's lost 80 pounds. She's engaged. She's got this beautiful baby," Paige said. "It's sort of like a new start to this new chapter in her life. It's an evolution."

But Hudson, it seems, is just getting started.

Werde said, "She absolutely has the potential to end her career up there on the Mount Rushmore of great R&B - and really singers of any genre."

Hudson's other projects this summer include the filming of the new movie "The Three Stooges" and several singing engagements. She is also working on a book.