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Arts & Entertainment

Jennifer Hudson Breaks Down While Rehearsing 'I Will Always Love You' For the Grammys

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Jennifer Hudson via Shutterstock

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The weight of paying tribute to Whitney Houston's legacy at the Grammys tonight is falling on the shoulders of Jennifer Hudson, who agreed to perform Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" at the awards ceremony.We're expecting a tear-jerking performance, but Hudson herself was having trouble making it through the song at rehearsal today without breaking down, a Grammy crew member told Perez Hilton.

Grammy Awards executive producer Ken Ehrlich said told CBS that Hudson was the right person to pay tribute: "She's had some very significant appearances on the show. It felt right to ask to her to come and help us honor Whitney, which she will do musically."

Houston performed at the Grammys eight times and won several Grammys herself: she won six Grammy awards, including album of the year for The Bodyguard soundtrack and record of the year for "I Will Always Love You" in 1994.

At least Hudson has had some practice performing the song before tonight:

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