By Dimitri Ehrlich
The crisp mountain air of Aspen, Colorado, is especially bracing this time of year. Inhale deeply and the mix of ponderosa pines and bristlecone pines tingle the nostrils. It’s not merely a breath of fresh oxygen, but a tonic that carries with it a shot of confidence and curiosity, inviting you to explore, piece by piece, breath by breath, the world around you. It was beneath the snow-draped Rocky Mountains of Snowmass, just outside Aspen, that a young Kate Hudson spent her childhood riding bikes and hiking. Today, as the Golden Globe-winning actress steps into the next chapter of her artistic life—her emergence as a singer—her formative years in this idyllic enclave continue to influence her path.
Nestled in the heart of the Roaring Fork Valley, the Snowmass-Aspen corridor of the 1980s was a place of quiet transformation—where the Old West met the new jet set, and the mountains offered both sanctuary and spectacle.
It was here, in the shadow of the Elk Mountains, that Hudson’s mother, Goldie Hawn, and her longtime partner, Kurt Russell, built their mountain home in the mid 1980s, a ranch in Old Snowmass that would become their safe haven. Hudson was just a young girl when they moved into their rustic-yet-elegant compound, with windows that framed vistas of snow-dusted peaks and rolling hayfields.
“Growing up here was really special,” Hudson has said of Aspen. “The family time was more plentiful and our family was really about nature. I find a very spiritual connection with the mountains.”
Then as now, Snowmass was a place of contrasts. It was a working agricultural valley, where alfalfa fields stretched toward the horizon and cattle grazed in pastures bordered by cottonwoods and aspen groves. Yet, just over the ridge, Aspen’s glittering social scene beckoned, a magnet for the famous and the curious. By the time the Hawn-Russell clan settled in, Aspen had already shed its mining town past for a new identity as an international ski destination and celebrity enclave. The town’s historic core—brick storefronts, the Wheeler Opera House, the Hotel Jerome—offered a stage for both local life and the global elite. For Hudson, this corner of Colorado was more than a backdrop. The ranch became a touchstone, a place to return to through the years, no matter where her career took her.
Hudson doesn’t just love music; she loves musicians. In addition to her marriage to the Black Crowes front man Chris Robinson (they divorced in 2007), the father of her eldest son, she also shares a son with Muse lead vocalist and guitarist Matt Bellamy, and a daughter with her fiance, musician, actor and owner of Lightwave Records, Danny Fujikawa.
Even when Hudson was focused entirely on acting, music was often in the picture: Her breakout role in the music-related drama Almost Famous earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Oscar nomination in the same category; she had a recurring role in the musical TV series Glee; and in 2021, Hudson co-starred in the musical film Music, co-written and directed by Sia, which earned her a second Golden Globe nomination. And of course, Hudson hasn’t given up on acting. Dovetailing perfectly with her burgeoning recording career, Hudson’s next film is a Neil Diamond-inspired musical: Song Sung Blue, co-starring Hugh Jackman, set for release on Christmas Day.
As the film’s writer-director, Craig Brewer, told Variety, “I’m a big believer in trying to find actors that are experiencing something comparable to what the character is going through,” Brewer says. “To see Kate in this interview [with CBS News Sunday Morning], talking about how she was getting sick of waiting for Hollywood to make up their mind about her, and that music was her thing to take charge of her life, I was like, ‘That’s what I’m making this movie about.’”
For those who knew Hudson, knew that she could really sing, knew that she felt the sound of her favorite records deep down in her bones, her transition into music came as no surprise. And yet for the rest of the world, it was a bit of a “what?” moment. Could a famous movie star really pull it off as a credible songwriter and artist?
In 2024, when Hudson released her debut album, Glorious, led by a driving synth-heavy single, “Talk About Love,” which she co-wrote with Fujikawa and Linda Perry, those doubts were quickly put to rest. The song is about celebrating a deep love connection and finding joy in the present moment, and Hudson belts the hooks with a raspy, soulful voice that aches with lived experience. “Turn it up loud, put your car window down, let your hair fly around you, breathe, know you are worthy of love,” Hudson wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of the album art for the single. Rolling Stone hailed “Hudson’s big, slightly husky voice” and Spin agreed, saying, “Hudson’s [voice] is husky-voiced bar crooner and lullaby whispering mother all at once, while her sound is part rock chick, part down-home country, with a strong sense of melody rooted firmly in guitar riffs.”
In addition to her original songs, Hudson, ever the fan, has released a string of covers, including ’Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry,” Stone Temple Pilots’ “Vasoline,” Patty Griffin’s “When It Don’t Come Easy,” and Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” On Saturday, December 27, she will return to Aspen for a much-anticipated performance at the Wheeler Opera House, in support of her most recent single, released in October: a cover of The Band’s “Christmas Must Be Tonight.”
Located in downtown Aspen, the Wheeler Opera House has served as the town’s central gathering place and hub for artistic expression since its construction in 1889. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a prestigious stop on the Silver Circuit touring route, hosting everything from Shakespeare and classical music to vaudeville and boxing, and providing Aspen—a booming mining town at the time—with a sense of cosmopolitan identity and community pride. Here, Hudson will ring in the holidays with her rendition of “Christmas Must Be Tonight.”
“When you speak of The Band, you are speaking directly to the heart, soul and backbone of rock’s roots,” Hudson explains of her decision to cover the song. “Before there was roots rock, The Band was creating a sound that brought it all together into something that was so organic, breathtaking, real. When the opportunity to record ‘Christmas Must Be Tonight’ came to me, I absolutely had to do it. So iconic, it’s a song I knew growing up during our Colorado Christmases. It was an honor to rerecord it.”
“I love all the hope in this song, and the joy,” Hudson enthuses. “And I love that it’s a shepherd and a carpenter’s son, very regular people, are having this moment that brings so much happiness to the world. I’ve loved The Band’s version, and Robbie Robertson’s solo version as well. But I had no idea how many great people have recorded ‘Christmas Must Be Tonight,’ though it’s such an amazing song, I understand why.”
In addition to acting and music, wellness has been a constant through line in her life. Hudson collaborated with the fitness brand Fabletics, and is the author of Pretty Happy: Healthy Ways to Love Your Body and Pretty Fun: Creating and Celebrating a Lifetime of Traditions.
Perhaps some of this passion for healthy living can be traced back to her early days skiing and hiking in Colorado. In this environment, Hudson developed an intrinsic connection to wellness, an ethos that would later permeate her life and work. Aspen’s emphasis on health and harmony—whether through yoga classes held at dawn or fresh organic fare at the local farmers market—were seamlessly woven into the fabric of her identity. To this day, maintaining an active, healthy lifestyle remains essential to her emotional health. “If I’m not active, if I’m not moving,” she says, “I don’t feel good at all.”
Hudson, who was raised Jewish, was also raised with Buddhist traditions. “Meditation has been the most helpful and life-changing thing for me,” she has said. “You can feel the difference when you meditate on a regular basis.” With three children to keep her grounded, Hudson views parenting as a powerful reminder of her own well-being: “Your kids are the great barometer of if your life is scheduled well as a working parent, because they let you know when they’re not getting the attention that they need.”
Another influence from the close-knit world of ’80s Aspen is Hudson’s belief in the importance of community. “When you create that support,” she has said, “you live it together, and you keep each other accountable.” She takes a holistic communal approach to nurturing joy, seeing her own wellness as inseparable from that of the world at large. “When the world is on fire, we need to rally for each other, support each other, love each other,” she has said. “And try to change how we do things and just connect.”
The foray into music, for Hudson, isn’t just a new career move; it’s connected to her well-being, an extension of a holistic lifestyle she has always championed. Connecting breath, melody and mindfulness also reflects life lessons she learned in Aspen, where the rhythms of nature instilled in her an appreciation for balance and beauty.
Her upcoming performance at the Wheeler is not just a return to her roots, but an affirmation of music as a central part of her life story. As she steps onto the Wheeler’s storied stage, it is with the knowledge that her voice, shaped by the echoes of her past in Aspen, will resonate with the promise of what is yet to come.