H.E.R Biography and Net Worth
American R&B singer and songwriter Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson was born on June 27, 1997. Her stage name is H.E.R. (“her”), an acronym for “Having Everything Revealed.”. In addition to being nominated for three American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award, she has also won five Grammy Awards and a Children’s and Family Emmy Award.
Background Information
Full Name | Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson |
Other name | Gabi Wilson |
Date of Birth (Age) | June 27, 1997 (age 26) |
Occupations | Singer,musician and songwriter |
Labels | RCA and MBK |
Website | her-official |
In 2016, she changed her recording name from her birth name to H.E.R. and released her first extended play (EP), H.E.R. Volume 1, under RCA Records. She then went on to release four more EPs under her new stage name. Featuring songs from her first two EPs, her debut self-titled compilation album (2017) was nominated for five Grammy Awards, where it won for Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance for its lead single, “Best Part” (co-starring Daniel Caesar).
I Used to Know Her, her second compilation album released in 2019, was nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year for the single “Hard Place.”
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She won her third Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2021 for the George Floyd-inspired song “I Can’t Breathe.” Her song “Fight for You” from the movie Judas and the Black Messiah was published that year and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
The following year, it also took home the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance. In June 2021, she released her first studio album, Back of My Mind, to positive reviews and strong sales. She was honored with the Children’s and Family Emmy Award in 2022 for her work on the animated children’s show We the People, which starred Michelle and Barack Obama.
H.E.R Early life and family
Born in Vallejo, California, on June 27, 1997, to an African American father and Filipino American mother, Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. In an interview with Guitar Center, Wilson’s father revealed that he played in a cover band and that the family’s living room served as the rehearsal space. Her mother’s extended family also included vocalists, drummers, bassists, and guitarists who frequently performed for karaoke parties. Wilson claims that these were some of her first musical inspirations.
H.E.R 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 (Harlem, 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 (2007) and Good Morning America and The View (both in 2008).
At this time, she was managed by Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment. She performed at age 12 at the 2010 BET Awards, covering Keys’ 2001 hit “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.
Wilson announced in September 2018 the I Used to Know H.E.R. Tour in support of her EP series I Used to Know Her: The Prelude and I Used to Know Her: Part 2. Her second compilation album I Used to Know Her was released on August 30, 2019.
She performed as one of the headliners of the 2019 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York on September 28. On October 5, she participated in the 2019 edition of the Rock in Rio festival located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among the headliners were Drake, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iron Maiden, Pink and Muse.
2020-present: Back of My Mind and acting debut
On September 20, 2020, she sang Prince’s song “Nothing Compares 2 U” for the In Memoriam segment of the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards. In February 2021, during the pre-game festivities for Super Bowl LV, she performed “America the Beautiful,” singing and playing guitar. On June 17, 2021, her single “Damage” topped the US R&B radio chart. The song is from her debut full-length album, Back of My Mind, which was released on June 18, 2021.
In August 2021, it was announced that Wilson was in final negotiations to make her feature film debut in the 2023 film adaptation of The Color Purple, playing the role of Squeak. She also sings a duet with Tauren Wells on the song “Hold Us Together.”.
On November 30, 2021, the Apple Music Awards announced H.E.R. as the winner of Songwriter of the Year.
H.E.R Musical style
Consisting mostly of R&B ballads, H.E.R.’s songs have been described as “downcast post-breakup material that sounded vulnerable and assured at once.”. In an interview, H.E.R. mentioned that she grew up listening to Filipino ballad singers such as Sharon Cuneta and Jay R. H.E.R. has also openly credited the singer Prince as one of her biggest influences.
Addressing the secrecy over her identity, she has said: “The mystery is a metaphor for who I am, or who I was at the time of creating the project… I feel like oftentimes we don’t like to be open as people about our emotions or things that we are going through. At the time [of recording], I was very closed off except for when I was writing or when I was in the studio.”
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She explained further: “I am a voice for women who feel like they’re alone in these situations. This project came from emotion, and that’s what I want it to be about—not what I look like or who I’m with, but the raw emotion and support for women.”To NPR, she said, “I feel like this is the era of the anti-star. I really just wanted it to be about the music and get away from ‘Who is she with?’ and ‘What is she wearing?’.
H.E.R Media appearances
H.E.R. made an appearance in the film Yes Day (2021) as herself. In the 2021 Netflix instructional cartoon series We the People, she gave a performance of her original song “Change” during the “Active Citizenship” episode. H.E.R.’s singing of Belle for ABC’s Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration was revealed on July 20, 2022.
The TV program debuted on December 15, 2022. During Game 1 of the 2023 World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, she performed the National Anthem. She sang “The Glass” with the Foo Fighters on a surprise Saturday Night Live visit on October 28, 2023. The Color Purple, which debuted in theaters on December 25, 2023, marked her big-screen acting debut.
Her Music
- Best Part
- Slow Down
- Slide
- Could’ve Been
- Hard Place
- This Way
- Feel A Way
- Good To Me
- Avenue
- Gone Away
- As I Am
- Against Me
- Say It Again
- Racks
- Take You There
- I’m Not OK
- Going
- Can’t Help Me
- Be On My Way
H.E.R Award and Nominations
H.E.R. has won numerous awards, such as:
- Best R&B at Soul Train Music Awards (2019)
- BET Her Awards at BET Awards (2019)
- Best R&B Performance and Best R&B album at Grammy Awards (2018)
- Best Collaboration Performance at Soul Train Music Awards (2018)
- Best Album or Mixtape of the Year at Soul Train Music Awards (2018)
Gabi got five nominations at the 2020 Grammy Awards for; Album of the year, Record of the year, Song of the year, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song.
She was also nominated four times at 2020 NAACP Image Awards for; Outstanding Album, Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Song and Outstanding Music Video/visual album.
H.E.R Net Worth
- H.E.R is one of the most influential American contemporary R&B singer with an estimated net worth of $2 million.