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HER And Chris Stapleton Are A Perfect Pairing While Performing ‘Hold On’ At The CMT Music Awards

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HER has become an awards show staple in recent years, so naturally, she found a way to pop up at the CMT Music Awards last night. During the ceremony, she performed her 2020 single “Hold On” alongside Chris Stapleton. While the two artists don’t exactly run in the same musical circles, Stapleton’s raspy country howl actually paired wonderfully with HER’s smooth R&B vocals.

Meanwhile, at a different point in the show, Stapleton (whose “Starting Over” visual was up for Male Video Of The Year but lost to Kane Brown’s “Worship You”) also took to the stage solo to perform “Arkansas.”

Elsewhere, some notable award wins for this year included Carrie Underwood and John Legend winning Video Of The Year for “Hallelujah,” Taylor Swift’s Best Family Feature win for the “The Best Day (Taylor’s Version)” video, and Kelsea Ballerini and Halsey’s rendition of “The Other Girl” from the 2020 CMT Music Awards taking home this year’s CMT Performance Of The Year award. Meanwhile, also receiving nominations in various categories were Maren Morris, Noah Cyrus, Elle King, Pink, Lady A, Kelsea Ballerini, and Darius Rucker.

HER, by the way, also revealed this morning that her upcoming album Back Of My Mind has a release date of June 18.

Watch HER and Stapleton perform “Hold On” above, where you’ll also find Stapleton’s performance of “Arkansas.”

HER Shares ‘Change’ From Netflix’s Obama-Produced ‘We The People’

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Netflix’s animated series We The People drops in exactly one month, and today, one of the stars set to be highlighted in the series, HER, has shared her musical contribution to its soundtrack, “Change.” Opening with a mean bass riff, the song describes parts of the political process and advocates for education and participation, acclaiming the power of one person to make a difference. “One day, I’ll be a leader,” she sings. “Believe in ‘We the people.’”

The singer has been lauded in recent months for the string of socially conscious hits she’s released in the past year, which includes the Golden Globe-nominated “Fight For You” from the Judas And The Black Messiah soundtrack and the Grammy-winning “I Can’t Breathe,” released in response to the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin.

We The People, streaming July 4, is produced by Barack and Michelle Obama and Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and aims to inspire viewers to become more engaged with their community and government. A description from Netflix reads:

Combining music and animation to educate a new generation of young Americans about the power of the people, We the People is a series of 10 animated music videos that covers a range of basic U.S. civics lessons in not-so-basic ways. Set to original songs performed by artists such as H.E.R., Janelle Monáe, Brandi Carlile, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Lambert, Cordae, Bebe Rexha, KYLE, Andra Day, and poet Amanda Gorman, with a groundbreaking mix of animated styles — each episode of We the People is an exuberant call to action for everyone to rethink civics as a living, breathing thing and to reframe their understanding of what government and citizenship mean in a modern world.

Listen to “Change” above. We The People starts streaming 7/4 on Netflix.

Billie Eilish, Kid Cudi, And HER Are Celebrating Prime Day With Exclusive Amazon Music Performances

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Kelia Anne MacCluskey

Today, Amazon revealed the dates for their annual Prime Day, which this year will take place on June 21 and 22. The day features significant Black Friday-like sales on items from across the website, but the Amazon Music wing of the site is getting in on the fun, too: Starting on June 17, a “Prime Day Show” will be streaming on Prime Video, and the three-part special will feature performances from Billie Eilish, Kid Cudi, and HER.

Amazon describes Eilish’s performance, “Billie brings a timeless, Parisian neighborhood to life with a series of cinematic performances. Set in the city known as the birthplace of cinema, it was directed by Billie Eilish and Sam Wrench, and features new music from Billie’s upcoming album, Happier Than Ever. This breathtaking musical tribute was inspired by Billie’s long-time admiration of a long gone era.”

Of Cudi’s show, they note, “As he embarks on his biggest mission to date, Kid Cudi departs Earth to establish a new community on the moon in this intercosmic performance. Featuring music from his album Man On The Moon III, Cudi collaborates with the International Space Orchestra, the world’s first orchestra composed of space scientists from NASA Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute, and the International Space University as his backing band, in a musical collision defying sight, sound, and space.”

They also say of HER’s performance, “Once known as the hub of Los Angeles Black culture in the 1930’s and ’40s, the iconic Dunbar Hotel hosted some of the most prominent figures of its time, including musicians Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, and many more. In a modern day musical tribute to this legendary and important piece of history and culture, HER imagines what The Dunbar Hotel would be like if it existed in 2021 featuring new music from her album, Back Of My Mind.”

All performances will run for about 25 minutes.

Ryan Redington, VP of Music Industry at Amazon Music, says of the shows, “Working with Billie Eilish, HER, and Kid Cudi to bring their music to life through these imaginative experiences has been incredible. Watching these globally renowned artists create three shows from the depths of their imagination has been unlike anything we’ve ever done before. We’re thrilled to bring fans along with us to celebrate these three remarkable artists and Prime Day.”

Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, added, “These iconic artists have not only broken new ground in music but are inspired storytellers, culture creators, and visionaries. We’re thrilled to partner with Billie, HER, and Cudi to bring these authentic and deeply personal specials to fans around the world as we celebrate Prime Day.”

Lil Nas X, Demi Lovato, And Others Helped Pay Tribute To Elton John At The 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards

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Elton John has achieved a lot during his lengthy and illustrious career, so he was a natural choice to be given the iHeartRadio Icon Award at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards last night. iHeartRadio went all out with honoring the legend, too, as they pulled out all the stops.

The award was presented to John by Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who ran through some comedic fake facts about John. Lil Nas X then joined in to pay tribute. After the award presentation, there was a tribute performance from Demi Lovato, HER, and Brandi Carlile. HER started by playing “Bennie And The Jets’ at a piano, when then segued into Carlile performing “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.” Lovato wrapped things up with a rendition of “I’m Still Standing,” and John himself even joined in during the song’s climax.

Ahead of the performances, John also gave an acceptance speech and thanked the aforementioned artists for paying tribute to him. He also spoke about how stunned he was by American radio early in his career, saying, “When I first came to Los Angeles in 1970, radio was so important. I’d never heard radio in America before because I had never been here before, but it was just incredible to me. In England, we had one station. Over here, you’d have music coming out of the radio in all sorts of formats, all sorts of styles… I was a pig in sh*t, basically.”

Watch some clips from the show below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

DJ Khaled, HER, And Migos Perform ‘We Going Crazy’ At The 2021 Billboard Music Awards

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DJ Khaled shared his twelfth album, Khaled Khaled, at the end of last month, and just like his previous albums, the project was a star-studded affair that flaunted some of the biggest names in music. It’s this aspect that helped propel Khaled Khaled to No. 1 on the album charts. In the latest chapter of the project, Khaled calls on HER and Migos to accompany him on the 2021 Billboard Music Award stage where they delivered a colorful performance of their collaboration, “We Going Crazy.” Backed by pyrotechnics and a wide display of vibrant colors onstage, the group kept the energy high to kick off the award show.

Since dropping his twelfth album, Khaled has kept busy by dropping videos for a number of songs off Khaled Khaled which includes “Body In Motion,” “Let It Go,” and “Every Chance I Get.” However, it’s not Khaled who’s been highly active in recent weeks. HER is gearing up to release her official debut album, Back Of My Mind, and in the process, she earned Grammy and Oscar wins which brought her halfway towards the coveted EGOT. As for Migos, the Atlanta-based trio is also readying an album with Culture III locked in for a June 11 release date. They also shared the project’s latest single with “Straightenin.”

You can watch a clip from DJ Khaled, HER, and Migos’ performance in the video above.

Khaled Kahled is out now via Epic Records. Get it here.

HER Reveals She Was Almost In A Band With Kehlani And Zendaya

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Despite still working on her official debut album, HER is one of today’s most-awarded young acts. The Vallejo, California-born singer already has four Grammys to her name along with a Golden Globe which brings her halfway to the coveted EGOT title. This undeniable success is a result of years worth of hard work and perfecting her craft, which dates back to her early teenage days. In a recent interview on The Carlos Watson Show, HER spoke about a band she was almost a part of earlier in her career, one that included well-known names like Kehlani and Zendaya.

“Dylan Wiggins, who is D’wayne Wiggins’s son from Tony! Toni! Toné!, we used to be in a band together,” she said. “We used to perform together when we were really young.” She added, “Kehlani was actually in our band. We all used to sing together. Zendaya was going to be in it at one point. But yeah, they all grew up together. I came into the picture in Oakland and we used to perform together.”

Poplyfe, a teen pop group from Oakland, California that appeared on season six of America’s Got Talent, is the band HER is referring to. At the time of their involvement in the talent show competition, the band’s members ranged in age from 13 to 18. The group would make it far into the show as they finish in fourth place.

You can hear HER share the news in the video above.

Kehlani is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

DJ Khaled, HER, And Migos Get Marooned In Their Dragon-Infested ‘We Going Crazy’ Video

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If you were ever fell asleep on the couch watching TBS and had a dream combining Castaway, Pirates Of The Caribbean, and The Hobbit, it might look something like the video for DJ Khaled’s latest Khaled Khaled single “We Going Crazy.” The Jamaica-filmed video opens with a shipwreck that finds Khaled and his costars HER and Migos marooned on a tropical island littered with luxury goods, including watches, sneakers, and bottles of Ciroc.

After building themselves a shelter and feasting on shellfish, the newly island rich protagonists hold a banquet in a cave with pirate skeletons (and the extant treasures with which they were buried) and follow the pirates’ map to an underground mountain of gold — which is protected by a massive, Smaug-like dragon, naturally. There’s a lot more product placement and eventually, Khaled buys a helicopter(!?) to get them off the island, signing off with his signature catchphrase: “Another one.” Indeed.

Fire and tropical islands appear to be a running theme with this album’s rollout, as the videos for the Lil Wayne and Jeremih-featuring “Thankful,” Lil Baby and Lil Durk collaboration “Every Chance I Get,” and the all-star reggae jam “Where You Come From” all prominently feature at least one or the other. In fact, only “Sorry Not Sorry” with Jay-Z and Nas excludes flames and beach scenery — although if they want to film a remix video, I’m sure neither artist would be opposed.

Watch DJ Khaled’s “We Going Crazy” video featuring HER and Migos above.

Khaled Khaled is out now via We The Best / Epic Records. Get it here.

Now That HER Has An Oscar To Go With Her Grammys, She’s Going After The EGOT

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HER is only 23 years old, but she’s already racked up four Grammy Awards and picked up an Oscar last night, as she got the Best Original Song win for her Judas And The Black Messiah track “Fight For You.” This puts her halfway towards an EGOT (winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award), on which she has now set her sights.

Speaking with ET after her win, HER said, “Oh, there’s absolutely going to be an EGOT in my future, hopefully. But yeah, I’m also super passionate about acting as well, so you may see me up here as an actress also. And I love musicals, me and Brandy have been talking about it a lot. She’s inspired me since she did a musical [Cinderalla]. Honestly, I cannot believe that we’re here. […] I’m still speechless, I feel like the Oscars are happening tomorrow and I’m dreaming right now. I’m still pinching myself, so I have no words.”

Only 16 artists have ever achieved EGOT status, although four of those artists finalized the feat in just the past few years. In 2018, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Tim Rice simultaneously EGOT’ed after collectively winning an Emmy for producing Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert. Alan Menken also got his EGOT by picking up an Emmy last year.

If HER pursues an EGOT in earnest, she has a shot at becoming the youngest person to ever do it. The current record-holder is Robert Lopez, who is known for his work on projects like Frozen and The Book Of Mormon and was 39 years old when he completed his EGOT. Legend is a close second, as he was 39 years and 8 months old when he got the EGOT.

Find the full list of this year’s Oscar winners here.

HER, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, And Jon Batiste Got Big Wins At The 2021 Oscars

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The Academy Awards were last night, so the best in film from the past year was properly honored. Per usual, some of the awards were devoted to music as well, and picking up big wins in those categories were HER, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste.

HER got the Best Original Song win for her Judas And The Black Messiah track “Fight For You” over “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (sung by Will Ferrell and Molly Sandén, the latter of whom Rachel McAdams lip-synced for the film), Celeste’s “Hear My Voice” from The Trial Of The Chicago 7, Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” from One Night In Miami, and Lauren Pausini’s “Io Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead.

Reznor, Ross, and Batiste’s Soul score also picked up a win, in the Best Original Score category, winning over the former two’s score for Mank, as well as Da 5 Bloods, Minari, and News Of The World.

As Billboard notes, these wins were superlative. Reznor, Ross, and Batiste are the first three-member composing team to win Best Original Score in 33 years, following Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, and Cong Su’s 1987 win for The Last Emperor. Batiste is also just the third Black composer to win in a scoring category, following Prince’s 1984 win for Best Musical Song Score with Purple Rain and Herbie Hancock’s 1986 victory for Best Original Score with ‘Round Midnight.

HER’s victory was also historically significant: For the first time in 35 years, a songwriter or songwriting team won an Oscar in the same awards season that they won a Grammy for Song Of The Year for a different song, as HER’s “I Can’t Breathe” just picked up the Grammy win a few weeks ago.

Find the full list of this year’s Oscar winners here.

HER Announces The Title Of Her Upcoming Debut Album, ‘Back Of My Mind’

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Grammy-winning singer HER is hard at work on a new project and today, she revealed what it’s going to be called. Back Of My Mind. Incidentally, it’s also her debut album, as her prior efforts, the self-titled H.E.R. and its 2019 follow-up I Used To Know Her, were compilations of previously released material (a quartet of EPs bearing the same titles).

However, despite not having an official “album” to her name, the Bay Area singer has become one of music’s most accomplished artists over the past several years, with singles like “Focus,” “Damage,” and “I Can’t Breathe” charting on the Billboard Hot 100 and appearances alongside stars like Daniel Caesar, Jazmine Sullivan, and YG raising her profile to near-superstar status.

That status was sealed as she secured high-profile placements on the Judas And The Black Messiah soundtrack and sang the national anthem at the 2021 Super Bowl. Meanwhile, “I Can’t Breathe” won Song of The Year at this year’s Grammys, while “Fight For You” was nominated for a Golden Globe. She even jokingly tried out for Silk Sonic, Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars’ new band, a placement that could help her net yet another platinum plaque in the near future.

There’s no release date yet for Back Of My Mind, but the notebook photo she posted on Twitter suggests she’s got at least of a couple of its unknown number of songs in the can already, while her new single “Come Through” is out now. You can listen to that below.