H.E.R. has big Grammy night
She snags fourth career honor at ceremony
For Vallejo native H.E.R., it’s going to be hard to top her fourth career Grammy Awards after taking Song of the Year on Sunday.
But the 23-year-old known locally as Gabi Wilson might just do it after it was announced that her song “Fight for You” from the film “Judas and the Black Messiah” earned H.E.R. an Oscar nomination at the April 25 Academy Awards.
“Amazing … unbelievable,” said the star’s father, Kenny Wilson, still euphoric Monday talking his daughter’s Sunday accolades.
“I wasn’t sure she was going to be able to be there in person to accept her aware if she won,” Wilson said. “So it was super exciting to watch Beyoncé, Jay Z and Taylor Swift stand up and clap as she walked to accept her award.”
H.E.R. also won a Grammy for Best R&B Song, “Better Than I Imagined.” Add in her other R&B Best Song nomination for “Slow Down” gave the 23-year-old 13 career Grammy nominations with four wins.
It was her Song of the Year for “I Can’t Breathe” that her dad is most proud of.
“When I first heard her do the song, I was teary eyed, of course,” Kenny Wilson said. “This was at the height of all the George Floyd protests. I was thinking, ‘That could’ve been me begging for my life with a cop’s knee to my neck.’ For Gabi to so eloquently express that pain of watching that tragic moment, with words to a song so strong, that was mind-blowing.”
It was at that moment, he continued, “that I realized that she was more than just a singer. She was a socially-conscious young woman that is using her platform to speak out on social injustice. It takes a lot of courage to do that early in your career.”
Wilson said he’s “not sure” if he’ll be able to attend the Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and the Los Angeles Union State after being postponed two months because of COVID-19.
If H.E.R. wins the Oscar, “that would be unbelievable,” her dad said.
“Fight for You” will be going up against “Hear My Voice” (by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite, from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”), “Husavik” (by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson, from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”), “Io Si (Seen)” (by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini, from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”) and “Speak Now (by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth, “One Night in Miami”).
“Fight for You” was also nominated for a Golden Globe for best song for a motion picture, but lost to “Io Si.”
“When I first heard her do the song, I was teary eyed, of course. This was at the height of all the George Floyd protests. I was thinking, ‘That could’ve been me begging for my life with a cop’s knee to my neck.’ For Gabi to so eloquently express that pain of watching that tragic moment, with words to a song so strong, that was mindblowing.”
— Kenny Wilson said