Kate Hudson Shares Secrets of the Afterlife, Her New Album, and Goldie & Kurt’s 40-Year-Long Romance

Kate Hudson fans were in for a treat Tuesday morning as the acclaimed actress, intrepid entrepreneur, and newly celebrated musician returned to the Stern Show studio. The beloved multi-hyphenate joined Howard for a candid conversation covering everything from her famous family and penchant for throwing epic parties to her thoughts on the afterlife. She and her band also delivered a live, three-song performance featuring two covers and one new track off her upcoming album, “Glorious.”

Considering Kate has been a household name since her Oscar-nominated 2000 portrayal of Penny Lane in the classic coming-of-age film “Almost Famous,” it’s fair to wonder why the 45-year-old entertainer waited so long to pursue her musical dreams. But as she told Howard, the industry was more rigid back then.

“At the time when I did ‘Almost Famous’ and then had all this sort of recognition … The people around me were like, ‘You’ve got this great thing going. You don’t really cross over,’” Kate said. “For me at the time it was like, you don’t touch [music]. You don’t touch commercials. You don’t do anything except just act.”

It wasn’t always that way, Kate explained, saying she vividly recalled her movie-star mom Goldie Hawn singing and dancing on “The Dean Martin Show.” “Most performers want to do everything,” she said. “Back in the day, people sang, and they danced, and they would do variety shows. They’d do a stint at the Copacabana and be in the biggest movie in the world.”

Music has always been a part of Kate’s career on some level, whether she’s rubbing elbows with Prince at award shows or serenading Daniel Day-Lewis in the 2009 musical “Nine,” but she wasn’t motivated to make a career out of it until the onset of the pandemic.

“It’s scary to put out your own work,” she said. “It’s the most vulnerable I’ve felt, but something happened during COVID.”

“I was like, ‘Are we gonna die? What’s happening?’” Kate recalled thinking during that first month of quarantine. “And when it started to calm down just a little bit, and I could be reflective of what my life creatively has been up until now, that is when I was like, ‘I have to do music.’”

Around that same time, Kate starred in “Music,” a musical directed and co-written by legendary singer-songwriter Sia. “She was the turning point for me, vocally. She is a huge part of inspiring me to be more in music,” Kate said of Sia.

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell’s Enduring Love

Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell’s decades-long relationship is impressive by any standards, let alone Hollywood’s, where love has long been known to evaporate quickly.  Kate couldn’t help but smile when gushing about her parents’ love for one another as well as their children and grandchildren.

“They’ve been together 40-plus years. They are like the center of our family,” Kate said. “Now, as they’re getting a little bit older, their relationship is so cute … I can’t stand it. Kurt just adores my mom. He just loves her so much.”

As Howard noted, Kate gets along so well with Kurt and Goldie that she moved just a couple doors down. “I’m very codependent with my mother,” Kate joked, adding, “Our family is just nuts — in the best way. Everyone is so different, but everyone wants to enjoy their life. There’s a lot of like joie de vivre … We’ve got this life force in our family and it’s so great.”

On Playing Stevie Nicks and Communicating With the Spirit World

Between Rob Marshall’s “Nine” and Sia’s “Music,” the intersection of music and acting seems to be a focal point of Kate’s career. Along those lines, Howard was curious if she would portray legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks in a biopic.

“I think any actress ever would want to play Stevie Nicks — especially people who love music,” Kate replied. “She’s our number one rock goddess. She’s the light.”

Hudson went on to recall seeing Nicks perform at an incredible “private gig.” “She must’ve thought I was nuts. I was just standing, watching her, going, ‘She’s just so amazing,’” Kate laughed. “Her witchy ways are real.”

Speaking of the dark arts, Howard was curious about the rumors that Kate and her mom communicate with spirits. “You can see dead people, right?” he asked.

“I can see everything,” Kate joked before going into detail about her actual interactions with spirits. “It’s like you get these sort of messages,” she said. “When I was a little girl it was actually quite wild because I could see ghosts all the time … Yeah, it was a little bit like [‘The Sixth Sense’] when I was younger.”

Howard’s interest was piqued. “Give me some hope because I’m pretty close to the end,” he joked, hoping to hear more about the afterlife.

“It’s more probably scientific than we even know. I think it’s very multidimensional,” Kate said. “We’ll see it when we get there, but I think it’s going to be fucking weird. But beautiful.”

Kate Hudson Throws Sick Parties

Kate’s Stern Show singing debut comes on the heels of a private concert she and her band just put on in New York City where some of the A-list attendees included Daniel Craig and Leonardo DiCaprio. And yet she told Howard she wasn’t at all nervous. “I worked with Daniel on ‘Glass Onion’, and he loves music, so that was actually really fun for me,” Hudson noted to Howard. “I’ve literally known Leo since I was 17 — we go way, way back.”

When it comes to planning parties, the singer is even more confident. “I throw the best parties because I don’t let people bring in their phones,” she said. “It’s about a real mix of people, and you’ve got to have the people that are going to go nuts, that are going to be the ones that people are going to go home and talk about.”

Mainstays of that guest list, which includes over 400 invites for her Halloween bash, are Goldie and Kurt. “They’re the most fun!” Kate revealed of her parents. “They love a good party.”

Speaking of social events, Kate reminisced about first meeting Howard at a dinner party. “You were the best,” she said with a big smile. “I remember leaving that dinner going, ‘Howard Stern is the best.’”

‘Vasoline’ Cover

Kate kicked her three-song set off with a lively cover of Stone Temple Pilots’ “Vasoline.” While the mid-90s hit wasn’t one she and her band had originally planned to perform on the air, Howard caught wind of them warming up with it during soundcheck and was hopeful to hear more.

Kate and company were happy to oblige, and they delivered a unique rendition of the ubiquitous grunge track, complete with a sizzling saxophone solo.

Howard couldn’t help but smile afterward. “How fun was that?” he said.

‘Gonna Find Out’

Hudson continued her concert with a dazzling performance of “Gonna Find Out,” the opening track off her forthcoming album “Glorious.” Howard and co-host Robin Quivers were blown away.

“Beautiful,” Howard marveled before asking for an encore performance of the vocal harmonizing in the song’s chorus. “That’s fun,” he said with a smile.

‘Voices Carry’ Cover

Kate finished her in-studio set with a cover of “Voices Carry,” the breakthrough single from Aimee Mann’s ‘80s band ‘Til Tuesday. Though Hudson wasn’t personal friends with Mann, who went on to write and record solo hits like “Save Me,” she couldn’t help but gush over the track.

“And when I started singing it, I was like, ‘Oh, I love singing this song,’” Kate said of “Voices Carry” before she and her band delivered a spirited performance.

“I love that — beautiful!” Howard concluded.

Kate Hudson’s debut album “Glorious” arrives May 17.