HER has been awarded four Grammys, including one for Song of the Year in 2020. After winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song in the film Judas and the Black Messiah, the R&B singer has now won her first Oscar. Together with Tiara Thomas and D’Mile I wrote and produced the ballad ‘Fight for You’.
The coveted “EGOT” is achieved when an artist receives the 23-year-old who is now halfway through an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, or Tony.
During the early part of her career, HER worked hard to hide her identity. HER sparked a lot of conversation when she released an album with just seven songs, no biography, and a mysterious full-body silhouette on the cover. This music, what is it? Why is she hiding her face?
But it wasn’t all a publicity stunt. She tried her hardest to keep a low profile, but after Rihanna, Janet Jackson, Drake and Alicia Keys sang her praises, her jig was up.
These days, HER is almost letting go of the secret altogether, but she still enjoys staring at her adoring fans through a variety of fashionable sunglasses (and we’re not sure when the day will come when she’s not wearing them). Her name is short for “Having Everything Revealed,” which is almost comical.
Keeping one’s identity a secret to let one’s craft speak for itself; in other words, hide nothing to reveal everything. Learn more about the 22-year-old budding sensation who is expected to have a big night at the Grammys by reading on.
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She keeps a low profile
HER would like to remain anonymous, but not for the same reasons as her other musicians (for Sia it’s to stay mysterious; for the feminist protest punk rockers it’s to avoid being locked up). Instead, she prefers to remain anonymous for her reasons. For HER, anonymity is preferable to fame because she wants the music to speak for itself.
She teased her silhouette on the covers of her debut album, Volume 1 and its follow-up, Volume 2. Her identity has since been made public. Billboard claims that after searching SoundCloud, her identity was discovered by fans after Janet Jackson and Drake both praised her and revealed her on social media as HER. Elton John.
Her real name is Gabriella Wilson
She goes by Gabi or her stage name, HER, despite being Gabriella Wilson. His ironic nickname, Having Everything Revealed, is for someone who prefers to remain anonymous. We’ll let her explain though.
“I show who I am and my stories and emotions, and music is an outlet for me. But it’s all revealed through my music and my message. Even though I don’t show my face and tell people who I am or more about me, it’s – really, you get to know who I am in my music,” she explained in an interview with a radio show.
While there is “little doubt” that HER and Wilson are the same people, her true identity was neither confirmed nor denied in a 2018 interview with Interview. Her “legion of devotees,” in the magazine’s words, didn’t care about her real name. They were just interested in her incredible music.
She had her big break on Radio Disney’s Next Big Thing in 2009
HER, a child prodigy, has been singing and performing since she was a young girl. When Gabi Wilson was younger, she performed in her father’s cover band and at age 10 sang an Alicia Keys cover on the Today show.
She got her big break when she was twelve years old when Radio Disney selected her as one of the top five singers of the contest (she lost). But the real breakthrough came when she signed her first recording contract with Sony at the age of 14.
But in 2018, she rose to fame after being nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys
In the second half of 2018, HER learned that she had received two Grammy nominations: one for Best New Artist and one for Album of the Year (for the self-titled HER Volume 1).
She received top category nominations, and when you add that to her mysterious, seemingly overnight stardom (it wasn’t), you have quite the social media tidal wave consuming internet feeds.
In 2019, HER released its most recent album
We love her for “Focus,” “I Used to Know Her,” and “Hard Place,” but her upcoming album might sound a little different. “You never necessarily know what sound you’re going to get,” she told Rolling Stone. However, with this album we can expect a “more musical” EP that follows in the footnotes of its predecessors. “People like Quincy Jones and even Rodney Jerkins perfected their mixes and made every instrument do the right thing. They were looking for that feeling, instead of looking for that hit,” she added.
— HER (@HERMusicx) January 20, 2020
She can play five instruments
Lizzo may be a musical queen with a flute, and Alicia Keys may be a master of the piano, HER can jam on one, two, three, four, or even five. She can rock as a pianist, drummer and accomplished guitarist who can solo on electric, acoustic and bass guitars. It’s not a competition, of course, but if we keep score, HER’s transparent Stratocaster comes out on top.
“Playing guitar has been a part of who I have been since I was a kid. I remember seeing a video of Lenny Kravitz and Prince [from the Rave Un2 the Year 2000 concert] when i was a child. That video changed my life – it made me want to play the guitar just because it’s a rock star,” she told Rolling Stone.
She is inspired by artists such as BB King, Lauryn Hill and Prince
“When HER was a kid, she would wake up in the mornings to her dad making breakfast in the kitchen and playing the late musician’s concert DVD on the television,” WWD wrote about HER’s affinity for Prince. And fans are celebrating the similarities between HER’s “Lost Souls” (off I knew HER) and “Lost Ones” by Lauryn Hill.
Further, Rolling stone got the artist talking about her blues roots. “BB King, with literally one note on the guitar, does something to everyone in the room – and that’s what inspired me to play: feeling rather than technique,” she said.
She is aware of the key to life. She also picked it up from Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys, who hosted the 2020 Grammys, gave the budding R&B icon some words of wisdom. “Alicia Keys told me that when it comes to music, all you need is three chords and the truth.” HER said to Refinery29. “I think you can apply that to life as well.”
