Hudson's stirring cover of Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' was an emotional homage to late singer.By Gil Kaufman Jennifer Hudson performs at the Grammys on Sunday Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images There is a whole generation of modern divas who grew up worshipping at the altar of . Everyone from Mariah Carey to Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna and Beyoncé owes a huge debt to the legendary singer, who died at age 48 on Saturday on the eve of the 54th annual Grammy Awards. But on an evening when many artists stopped to pay homage to the 1980s diva, whose gifts knew no bounds before her personal problems eroded a once-untouchable talent, it was Jennifer Hudson who reminded the gathered music-industry elite about how much had been lost. Like Houston, Hudson came up as a church kid, singing at Pleasant Gift Missionary Baptist on Chicago's rough South Side at age 7 before embarking on a path that would take her to the top of the charts and earn her an Oscar for her breakout first film role in "Dreamgirls." (That part came nearly 15 years after Houston won accolades in her big-screen debut in "The Bodyguard.") And, like Houston, Hudson was signed by Clive Davis, the legendary music man credited with making Whitney's career; the two women were labelmates on his J Records imprint.