Jennifer Hudson sings the National Anthem at the Super Bowl

Coming off a tragic year in which she lost her mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, her brother Jason, and her nephew Julian, Jennifer Hudson stood and delivered Sunday night at the Super Bowl.

When Hudson's family members were murdered in her hometown of Chicago last October, it marked a tragic chapter in a life of a young woman who had risen from American Idol finalist to Dreamgirls star to Oscar winner. Many worried if she would be able to come back from the tragedy.

But Sunday night at Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Hudson performed, and the audience and the critics showered her with love.

"She owned the song like no one has done since Whitney Houston seized it at the 1991 Super Bowl," wrote David Hinckley of the New York Daily News. "Hudson announced she was back in dramatic fashion," said The Chicago Tribune's Greg Kot. "Her heart has surely been broken by recent events, but her voice remains a rare instrument," he wrote. And TV Guide called it "an inspiring rendition."

The reviews were good, but the audience reaction was even better as Hudson was introduced to the stage. And this is not the end of the road for Hudson. Next Sunday she will be singing again on a big stage when she performs at the Grammy Awards.