Jennifer Hudson – Off the Grid Stars

Jennifer Hudson grew up in Chicago, and when the former ‘American Idol’ contestant decided to buy a new house in 2011, she didn’t go far from the Windy City.

J. Hud first agreed to purchase a 12,000-square foot mansion in the northwest suburb of Burr Ridge, but that deal fell through after news of the sale hit the press. It's unclear whether she quietly purchased a different property instead, but she is still believed to live in the Chicago area, hopefully in a house fit for an Academy Award winner.

Hudson’s childhood home in the gang-plagued Englewood neighborhood is now abandoned. That’s where her mother and brother were tragically killed in 2008. You can’t blame the singer for wanting to get away from those memories and move into something bigger and make a fresh start.