Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her", also an acronym for "Having Everything Revealed"), is an American R&B singer. She has received an Academy Award, a Children's and Family Emmy Award, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for a Golden Globe Award, three American Music Awards, and four Billboard Music Awards.
After initially appearing and recording singles under her real name, she debuted as H.E.R. in 2016, releasing EP H.E.R. Volume 1 under RCA, followed by four subsequent EPs. Her first compilation album H.E.R. (2017), consisting of tracks from her first two EPs plus six additional songs, was nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Album. Her second compilation album, I Used to Know Her, received five Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for "Hard Place".
In 2021, she was awarded the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for "I Can't Breathe". That same year, her song "Fight for You" from the film Judas and the Black Messiah, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song; and later earned the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance, the following year. Her debut full-length album Back of My Mind was released in June 2021. In 2022 she won the Children's and Family Emmy Awards for her writing contributions on We the People.
Early life and family
Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson was born on June 27, 1997, in Vallejo, California, to a Filipino American mother and an African American father and raised in California's San Francisco Bay Area.
Career
2007–2011: Career beginnings
At age ten, performing as Gabi Wilson, she played an Alicia Keys song on the piano for the Today Show and at the famed Apollo Theater in New York City on September 23, 2007, covering Aretha Franklin's "Freeway of Love". She made her acting debut at the age of 9, starring in the Nickelodeon television film School Gyrls created by Nick Cannon. She also performed on Maury in 2007, Good Morning America, and The View in 2008. At this time, she was managed by Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment. She performed at the 2010 BET Awards covering Keys' "Fallin'", sang a tribute to Keys at the ASCAP Awards, and competed on Radio Disney's The Next BIG Thing at age 12, with her song "My Music" featured on Radio Disney.
2011–2016: Debut album
In 2011, at age 14, Wilson signed a record deal with Sony's RCA Records via J Records, in a deal arranged by her manager Jeff Robinson's MBK Entertainment. Her debut single "Something to Prove" was released under her real name.
2016–2019: Breakthrough and I Used to Know Her
Rebranding in late 2016 with the new H.E.R persona, Wilson released her debut EP, H.E.R. Vol. 1 on September 9, 2016, produced by songwriter David "Swagg R'Celious" Harris. She received support from Usher, Tyrese, Pusha T, and Wyclef Jean; labelmates Alicia Keys and Bryson Tiller helped get the word out through Twitter co-signs, shoutouts, and re-posts. In April 2017, Barbadian singer Rihanna posted an Instagram clip with H.E.R.'s track "Focus" playing in the background. The clip has been viewed over 5 million times. Additional industry support came from Issa Rae of HBO's Insecure, Taraji P. Henson of Empire, Kylie Jenner, and Kendall Jenner.
NPR listed H.E.R. Vol. 1 as the first selection in its "5 Essential R&B Albums You Slept On". Calling the music "Slow-burning R&B that zooms in on emotional highs and lows," Rolling Stone included H.E.R. in its March 2017 "10 Artists You Need To Know" roundup. Forbes named her one of "5 Alternative R&B Artists to Look Out for in 2017", reporting: "In the same vein as The Weeknd's enigmatic introduction to the world, H.E.R.'s image remains a mystery. The irony, though, is that her moniker is an acronym for Having Everything Revealed."
Wilson's follow-up EP, H.E.R. Vol. 2 (2017) also produced by Harris, was released on June 16, 2017, and includes the single "Say It Again". She went on tour with Bryson Tiller for the Set It Off tour, and concluded her first headlining tour, the Lights On Tour, in support of H.E.R. Vol. 2. She released H.E.R. Vol. 2, The B Sides (2017), produced by Harris, on October 20, 2017, and the single "2" on October 13, 2017. The compilation album H.E.R. was released on October 20, 2017, comprising the songs from each of the three EP's in this series. The album won Best R&B Album and received four other nominations at the 61st Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist.