Gabriella “Gabi” Wilson (born June 27, 1997), better known under the acronym H.E.R. for “Having Everything Revealed,” is an American R&B singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist—with the guitar being her signature instrument. Wilson was formerly known for keeping her real identity under wraps:

The mystery is a metaphor of who I am, of 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.

Raised in California’s San Francisco Bay Area to a Filipina mother and an African-American father, Wilson’s childhood was always filled with music. Artists such as Prince and Lauryn Hill contributed to the creation of her musical identity. Between 2007 and 2010, she performed in several broadcasts, including The Maury Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, and also competed in Radio Disney’s The Next BIG Thing with her song “My Music.” Wilson subsequently signed a record deal with Sony’s RCA Records by the age of 14, and released her debut single “Something to Prove” in 2014.

After a few singles and musical appearances under her real name, Wilson reappeared in 2016 when she dropped her debut EP, H.E.R., Vol 1, on SoundCloud as H.E.R., followed up in 2017 with H.E.R., Vol. 2—both mixing an R&B, hip-hop and soul sound. On October 20, 2017, she released her debut compilation album, H.E.R., consisting of tracks from her first two EPs plus seven additional songs. In early 2018, the California native was nominated for five Grammy Awards, winning Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance for her collaboration with Daniel Caesar on “Best Part.”

Following the two EPs, I Used to Know Her: The Prelude and I Used to Know Her: Part 2—released in August and November 2018, respectively—Wilson released her sophomore compilation album, I Used to Know Her, on August 30, 2019. It includes hit songs “Hard Place” and “Could’ve Been” featuring Bryson Tiller. In 2019, Gabi Wilson saw another five nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards.

In March 2021, H.E.R. received two Grammy Awards for the Song of the Year for “I Can’t Breathe,” and Best R&B Song for her featuring in Robert Glasper’s “Better Than I Imagine.” A month later, Wilson won her first Oscar with the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Fight for You” from the film, Judas and the Black Messiah.

On June 18, 2021, H.E.R. finally released her highly anticipated debut full-length studio album, Back of My Mind. It includes 2019 single “Slide,” and 2020 singles “Damage,” “Hold On” and “Come Through” featuring Chris Brown. As usual, she was nominated in seven categories for the 64th Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year and Album of the Year.

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