WHO IS H.E.R.? Understandably, there’s a lot of music lovers who are curious to know more about the recent recipient of the Best Original Song trophy from the recently concluded Oscars Awards Night. Why? Because the winner is a Black American-Filipina talented lady!
Now that this lady got the attention of the Filipinos (she has tons of videos on YouTube where she talks about her Filipino roots! Proud Pinay!). It is just right for us to give you a good introduction H.E.R. It’s been a while since a Filipino talent made us really, really proud. We need some ego boost nowadays.
Without further ado, let us introduce you to H.E.R! Read on!
EARLY LIFE
H.E.R was born Gabriela Sarmiento Wilson on June 27, 1997 in Vallejo, California, United States of America. Her mother is Filipino and her father is African American. What in San Francisco Bay Area.
She began her career when she was a young child. She once covered Alicia Keys on piano with the hugely popular show The Today Show. She also competed on Radio Disney’s The Next Big Thing. She uses the stage name H.E.R which is an acronym for Having Everything Revealed.
CAREER BEGINNINGS
Her first single which David did under her real name is titled “Something To Prove”. IT was under the record deal with RCA Records and MBK Entertainment. She was 14 at that time.
But 2016 where she took her singing career seriously. Emerging as H.E.R, she released her debut EP, H.E.R Vol. 1 in September of 2016. She got the support of the big names in the industry such as Usher, Pusha T, Tyrese, Alicia Keys, and the Jenner sisters.
BREAKTHROUGH
Due to the her amazing music and the promotion of many celebrities, H.E.R had become big in the industry, being recognized by NPR, Rolling Stone and Forbes.
Her follow up EP, H.E.R Vol. 2 was released the following year. It was also the year when she did her first headlining tour “The Lights On Tour”. She won the 2021 Grammy Awards for the Best R&B Song for her song “Better Than I Imagine”, a collaboration with Robert Glasper and Meshell Ndegeocello. She also won her first Academy Awards with her song “Fight For You” for the Best Original Song.
DISCOGRAPHY AND TOURS
H.E.R’s first album is H.E.R which was released in 2017. It contains songs from her EPs and six additional songs. The album contains a total of 21 songs. Her second album, I Used to Know Her was released in 2019 and contains 19 songs.
H.E.R also made two headlining tours, in lieu of her two albums, the first in 2017, and the other in 2018. She also did three supporting tours with Bryson Tiller in 2017, Chris Brown, in 2018 and Childish Gambino in 2019.
FUN FACTS
H.E.R, her name is literally what she does with her songs. H.E.R said in an interview that she was inspired after a break-up. She used this as her way of making her music, wording feelings that are so common across many women.
She originally wanted to stay anonymous as long as she could. She said that she wanted people and her audience to focus on her music. Before her identity was revealed, she used to hide her face in publicity stills.
One of H.E.R’s greatest musical influence would be Prince, who was introduced to her by her father. Hence, you can hear some of Prince’s signature guitar style during her solos.
Were you surprised by these facts? What is your favorite H.E.R song as of the moment? Let me know in the comments, maybe we could arrange a listening party, yes?
