Amber Riley vs. Jennifer Hudson: Who Covered Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You” Better?

Both Glee’s Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones) and former American Idol standout Jennifer Hudson performed beautiful, emotional versions of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” in the last few days.

First, in a tribute to the late singer, Jennifer Hudson took to the Grammy Awards stage – with just 24 hours to prepare – and belted out an incredible rendition of “I Will Always Love You.”

Then, just two days later on an episode of Glee, Amber Riley covered the hit classic as part of that Fox program’s Valentine’s Day episode, shedding tears in the process over her character’s status on the show.

Following Riley’s amazing performance, “Glee’s” musical supervisor P.J. Bloom revealed that Amber’s special tribute was actually a coincidence.

“We chose to do the song and Ryan Murphy chose to do the song to honor one of the great hits of all time,” Bloom said. “Obviously, we could not predict the unfortunately circumstances that happened this weekend but at the same time instead of focusing on the dark stuff, it’s nice to have an opportunity to hear her in this way and celebrate the magic that Whitney brought to this industry.”

Both Riley and Hudson’s covers of the Whitney classic are listed below for you to compare. Did one stand out above the other, or were both equally beautiful?

Jennifer Hudson singing I Will Always Love You at the Grammy Awards:
Amber Riley singing I Will Always Love you on Glee: