The biggest hit of the 2025 BET Awards was this heartfelt tribute to the one and only Jamie Foxx! Babyface, Ludacris, and Tank hit the stage to sing Foxx’s hits, but it was Jennifer Hudson who stole the whole dang show with a smoking hot performance. Fans said it was sure nice for Hudson to invite everyone else to her concert, and that was held out by the most replayed section of the medley, which was all J.Hud.
Hudson hit the stage to sing at the tail end of Tank’s take on “Night Time Is the Right Time,” which Foxx famously sang in his Ray Charles biopic Ray. J.Hud’s powerhouse wail instantly upped the ante and hyped up the audience, while Foxx was seen visibly emotional as she ad-libbed over the song. Hudson then launched into a soul power cut of “Gold Digger,” revamping and amping up the hit which Foxx famously originally featured on. The Music Man has to say that Hudson is absolutely one of a kind!
The Foxx tribute was a big hit after BET uploaded it to YouTube on June 10, 2025, where it gained 3.9 million views. Listeners gave plenty of praise for J.Hud’s performance, adding comments such as “Jennifer Hudson came out and I suddenly felt like I was in church!” and “No fancy costume. No smoke and mirrors. No hanging off the ceiling. J.Hud said pass me that mic and I’ll rock the house. Goosebumps!”
Hudson always brings her A-game when she fronts up to BET events. The Chicago talent’s most popular live performance on her YouTube channel is her take on Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” at the BET Honors. J.Hud gave a stellar performance that was straight from the heart, resulting in a 20 million view upload. The performance took an emotional turn when Houston stood up to watch from the audience, and it seemed like Hudson was singing just for her throughout the song.
The Music Man is pleased to report that The BET Awards musical tribute to Foxx was followed by Stevie Wonder presenting Foxx with the BET Ultimate Icon Award. During his speech, Foxx had to pause to collect himself, which in turn made his supporters in the audience tear up. After taking a moment, Foxx reflected on his 2023 brain bleed and subsequent stroke, before saying, “I said, [God] — just give me one more crack at this. I promise I’ma do right.”