Filipina-American singer H.E.R. bags two wins at 2019 Grammys

“I LOVE YOU, THAT WAS SO SPECIAL!” (Photo: @hermusicofficial/Instagram)

Twenty-one-year-old Filipino-American (FIl-Am) R&B singer Gabi Wilson, more popularly known as H.E.R,. brings home two victories from the 61st Annual Grammy Awards that were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles last Sunday, February 10.

When accepting one of her golden gramophones, H.E.R. excitedly states, “So first thing I wanna say is this is unbelievable and second it’s not even an album, it’s an EP,” referring to the self-entitled compilation of her past two extended plays (EP), laughing, “I’m speechless right now, I’m holding back tears.” She also posts a photo of herself accepting the award, captioned, “Happiest day of my life! No words! The moment I shared with my family when they made the announcement was so special. Thank you to everyone who has been there since day one and to all my fans that continue to come to my shows and put people on to my music!” concluding, “Mom, Dad, Little sis, I did this for you!”

Initially, H.E.R. was nominated for five awards, namely: album of the year, best new artist, best R&B song, best R&B album, and best R&B performance, succeeding overall in the latter two categories. Upon first hearing about her nominations, she reacts, “It’s amazing. I don’t know how to describe the feeling. I just thought that all the hard work has paid off.”

H.E.R, whose acronym stands for ‘Having Everything Revealed,’ was born and raised in San Francisco by a Filipina mother and an African-American father. She made her first public appearance performing an Alicia Keys song on the piano, then at the age of 12 competed on Radio Disney’s “The Next BIG Thing.”

She talks about her roots during her guesting on the Late Late Show with James Corden, sharing, “I’m half-Filipino and Filipinos love karaoke. So yeah, I love to sing, I’ve always been around music my entire life and I just gravitated towards instruments. They were at my house and my dad would rehearse with his band.”

Besides the R&B artist’s most popular hit “Best Part,” which is a collaboration with Daniel Ceasar, H.E.R. is also known for songs like “Focus,” “Losing,” and “Could’ve Been.”