H.E.R.
Accumulating 10 Grammy nominations and two wins in just two years, H.E.R. has proven herself as an R&B force to be reckoned with. In 2019, the singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album (H.E.R.) and Best R&B Performance (“Best Part” featuring Daniel Caesar). This year, her five Grammy nominations included Album of the Year (I Used to Know Her), Record of the Year and Song of the Year (“Hard Place”), and Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song (“Could’ve Been” featuring Bryson Tiller). Following up on her jaw-dropping performance of “Hard Place,” she returned to the Grammy stage for the second year in a row to perform “Sometimes,” a brand new song that became the most Shazamed performance of the night.
In a short period of time, H.E.R. has accrued over two billion combined streams—and counting—of the breakthrough projects H.E.R. (RIAA-certified platinum) and I Used to Know Her, and more recent songs “Slide” featuring YG (plus the remix featuring Chris Brown, Pop Smoke, and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie), “Sometimes,” “Comfortable” (featured on The Photograph soundtrack), and “Wrong Places (from Songland).” “Slow Down,” Skip Marley’s infectious song featuring H.E.R., recently claimed the no. 1 spot on the Billboard R&B Adult chart.
The H.E.R. Vol. 1 EP peaked at no. 1 on the iTunes R&B/Soul Albums chart upon its release, and H.E.R. Vol. 2 saw the same trajectory, resulting in two EPs within the top five at the same time. I Used To Know Her: The Prelude debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart, while fan favorites “Focus” and “Best Part” earned the no. 1 spot on the Billboard Adult R&B Songs Airplay chart and Urban Adult Contemporary chart, respectively. H.E.R. won two 2018 Soul Train Music Awards for Album/Mixtape of the Year for H.E.R. and Best Collaboration Performance for “Best Part.” In 2019, she won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist.
H.E.R. has captivated audiences not only with stellar live performances while headlining her North America and international tours, but also with an impressive list of television performances. Over the past few years, H.E.R. has performed on the 2020 and 2019 Grammy Awards, 2019 Video Music Awards, Austin City Limits, the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Ellen, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Late Show with James Corden, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Nickelodeon’s All That, and more.
In September 2019, H.E.R. and producer partner Live Nation Urban introduced the first-ever Lights on Festival at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California, which sold out within minutes of going on sale. This is notably the first female-owned/curated R&B festival in decades. Touting “R&B Is Not Dead” as the festival’s theme, the powerhouse lineup included H.E.R., Jhené Aiko, Daniel Caesar, Summer Walker, Ari Lennox, Lucky Daye, and more. She is currently working on year two of the Lights on Festival and looking to expand and make it even bigger and better than before.
While the world was under quarantine due to COVID-19, H.E.R. created Girls with Guitars, an Instagram Live performance and conversation series, which featured guest appearances by Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Willow Smith, Tori Kelly, Alessia Cara, Chloe x Halle, Lianna La Havas, Nai Palm (Hiatus Kaiyote), and more. Companies such as Amazon Music, which donated $30,000 to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, Fender, Lyft, Beats By Dre, Glossier, and Revolve joined as sponsors.
H.E.R. is continuing to dominate other aspects of the entertainment industry this year as well. She starred in Pepsi’s new “Zero Sugar. Done Right” Super Bowl LIV commercial alongside Missy Elliott, has a cameo in the upcoming movie Yes Day starring Jennifer Garner, and is on the soundtrack for the film The Photograph starring Issa Rae.