Just months after a family tragedy that saw her mother, brother and nephew murdered, Jennifer Hudson somehow gathered the strength to return to the stage for a performance of  the Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XLIII.

But as the “Dreamgirls” star and former “American Idol” favorite sees it, she didn’t have a choice — her murdered brother wouldn’t have it any other way.

Hudson appears on the Jan. 8 edition of NBC’s “Dateline” to discuss the tragedy, among other topics, and tells the show’s Lester Holt that she heard her brother Jason’s voice, which urged her to undertake the comeback performance, reports Reuters.

“I felt as though I had to,” Hudson tells Holt. “Just the same as I hear my mother’s voice in my head, I can hear my brother’s voice in my head. And he– they, like, everybody, it’s like, is she ever gonna sing again? Is she gonna– you know? And what was I gonna say to that– I could hear him, like, ‘Jennifer–’ he would always say, ‘Knock it off, Jenny,’ if I was cryin’ about somethin’ or if I was upset, discouraged, mad, ‘Jenny, knock it off.’ That’s what I hear in my head. And it’s like, ‘Okay, well, what they want me to do? I can either just sit here and mope around, or do what I know that would make them proud.’ And that’s what I did.”

During the interview, Hudson also reveals how she would have been on the scene at the time of the murders were it not for her fiance, professional wrestler David Otunga.

“I remember it like yesterday,” Hudson recalls. “I was literally picking up my bags to walk out the door to go to my mother’s house. And he called me, like, ‘Can you come out here instead of going, you know?’ And I was like, ‘Okay, sure.’ And that one decision, that one thing, I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, along with her brother Jason, were found shot to death in Donerson’s Chicago home on October 24, 2008; Donerson was 57, and Jason 29. After a search, Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found in a parked car, after dying of what the medical examiner’s office determined to be multiple gunshot wounds.

William Balfour, the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister Julia, pleaded not guilty to the murders and awaits trial in February.

While most were celebrating the new year, 50 Cent was feeling less optimistic about the future. The outspoken rapper took to Twitter once again to vent his frustrations.

 Following the premature premiere of his new single “Girls Go Wild” featuring Jeremih, the G-Unit CEO expressed his disappointment with those around him. “I have lost all the faith in the team I’m on,” he tweeted. “I having nothing left to say I will not be promoting my music.”

Despite threats to his label Interscope Records, 50 still plans to release his fifth album. “I’m going to deliver this album. Then I have a film I wrote to focus on. I’m not upset, I’m just convinced this is not how I want to remembered.”

In a darker tweet, he explained why he started his Street King movement, which feeds millions of starving Africans. “I’ll be honest I don’t think I’m gonna live much longer,” revealed 50. “That’s why I started my street king movement. I want to mean more in other people’s lives.”

And his moment of reflection didn’t stop there. “To be conscious that life is short is not suicidal. I’m good if I die tonight. I’ve taken care of the people who took care of me when I couldn’t take care of myself.”

Brandy is serious about her 2012 takeover and she’s enlisted popular producer Odd Future’s Frank Ocean to help her create some magic…

Brandy tells BET

“We have great chemistry. We both understand music in the same ways. To work with him on this album was great as well, and I hope I can get in (the studio) with him some more because his music is just so moving; I’m inspired by him. I think he’s a great artist and he hasn’t even touched on what he will touch on in the future.”

In an interview with VLAD TV, Young Jeezy, says that not only is he on the verge of canceling his Twitter account, but the social networking site caused the murder of one of his good friends. He cautions everyone to be aware of the power of words and know that it cyber wars are dangerous:

I just lost a homeboy over twitter beef so I don’t think it’s a joke, not at all. R.I.P to Kev; He was a good kid. I lost my homeboy and I had to be in the hospital; I left the club and came to the hospital. I had to sit there with his mother and that’s why I tell you, to y’all this sh*t is questions but to me, this sh*t is real. I sat in the room with his mother and brother; the nurse walked in and said “Ma’am, I’m sorry but you lost your son to multiple gun shot wounds to the chest” and she walked out and left her to deal with that. I had to sit there with her and comfort her.

I also attended the funeral and this was three weeks ago, so my thing is “I get it”! Everybody got an ego and everybody is tough but I feel like this sh*t is meant for networking. My thing is these kids got to know they can’t take this sh*t and make it a negative. They can’t be f*cking killing each other over words. I feel bad I had to sit there and bury him with his brother. It kind of hurt me because three weeks prior to that we were all hanging, smoking and having a good time.

It’s just crazy to see what these kids are doing today over some internet sh*t. It almost made me want to not be on twitter no more and it’s probably why I haven’t just been on it because I’m like, “Damn, what the f*ck is going on?” I understand everybody is tough these days; tough economic times make sh*t really frustrating for people but it’s one thing to have an argument in your neighborhood but when you start beefing on f*cking twitter and people start dying, that’s when you know we got a problem.

Younger brother of Hip-Hop mogul, Percy “Master P” Miller, will be spending the remainder of his life in jail for the 2002 murder of a teenager at a club.

Corey “C-Murder” Miller appealed his 2009 second-degree murder conviction in Louisiana’s 5th Circuit Court of Appeal for the shooting death of Steve Johnson, and was denied by the court.

The three-judge panel rejected Miller’s argument last Wednesday that he didn’t get a fair trial.

C’Murder claims that the presiding judge allowed prejudicial and unsubstantiated testimony into the courtroom, including witnesses to the shooting who claim that they were threatened by the No Limit Solider. He also accused prosecutors of purposely and systematically removing black people from the jury.

Lebron James brought in 2012 with a big bang proposing to his longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson.

She was spotted at the Miami Heat vs. Charlotte Bobcats game on Sunday gushing as she held up her ring for all to see.

The night before, she kicked off a New Years Eve dinner and celebration of Lebron’s  27th birthday but it turned into her special night. Lebron had waited all night for the perfect moment to catch her off guard and pop the big question. Moments after the New Year rang in, he got a little help from D Wade, who patiently held the ring while Lebron did his thing. After being totally caught of guard and shocked, Savannah said, ‘Yes!’ and received a beautiful diamond ring.