H.E.R. does juggling act with concert tours, acting, Grammys
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Your support makes all the difference.H.E.R. won top Oscar and Grammy music honors last year, but those supreme accolades were just a precursor for the singer-songwriter's next moves.
The R&B star enters the Grammy Awards as one of the leading nominees again, sheās the new global ambassador for LāOreal Paris, she was recently honored at Billboard's Women in Music event and she will start filming āThe Color Purpleā musical this month in Georgia. Sheāll embark on her 19-city Back of My Mind tour in early April while separately joining Coldplay for their world tour as a supporting act later this month.
Plus, H.E.R. is still fitting in studio time to record new music. It might seem like a super heavy workload, but the singer says sheās willing to carry the weight.
āI do take up a lot of space. I do carry a lot with me. Iām supposed to,ā said H.E.R., whose protest anthem āI Canāt Breatheā won a Grammy for song of the year in 2021. In the same year, she took home best original song for the soulful āFight for Youā from the āJudas and the Black Messiahā soundtrack at the Academy Awards. She co-wrote both songs.
āIn the beginning, I wanted to be about the music and not necessarily who I am and what I look like,ā she continued. āIām a musician before anything. Now Iām just organically showing myself and speaking on certain things and just being me. I want people to feel my presence ā whether itās in the music industry or the world.ā
H.E.R.'s upcoming tours and Grammys offer that platform. Sheāll perform for the first-time in her career in a stadium when she makes her first appearance on Coldplayās tour on March 25 in Monterrey, Mexico. Other touring cities with huge stadiums include Paris, Los Angeles, London, Dallas and Frankfurt, Germany.
The four-time Grammy winner said she found inspiration to perform in stadiums ā where she āwants the drums to really hitā ā after watching Kanye West and Drakeās benefit concert at the LA Memorial Coliseum late last year.
āIt inspired me to go into rehearsal and just fine tune everything and come up with some really great arrangements and make it an experience,ā she said. āThe sound is different in an arena and even in a theater than in a stadium. I want to make sure I fill the space. Thatās the challenge, but also the fun part.ā
H.E.R. kicks off her tour in Los Angeles on April 5, just two days after the Grammys, where sheās up for eight nominations including album and song of the year. Both tours will run in conjunction with each other, but she says the stadium shows with Coldplay are āreally spread outā location and date wise while her tour touches some of those same domestic cities and other markets too.
H.E.R. said the tour will be an opportunity to show her evolution as a music maker and woman.
āItās the growth of me as a musician, but also just as a person," she said. "I think thatās special. Itās a special thing for me and I hope that people join me and continue to be on the on the ride with me.ā
After working with H.E.R., producer Hit-Boy said heās looking forward to the singerās tour and other projects calling her a ādifferent breed.ā
āSheās an entertainer and musician,ā said Hit-Boy, who produced āTrauma,ā a song on H.E.R.ās debut studio album āBack of My Mind,ā a Grammy album of the year nominee. āShe separates herself from a lot of others as a musician. She understands when you play her certain chords and exactly what they are, what exactly to put on top of them.ā
Along with touring, H.E.R. will venture into the world of film for the Oprah Winfrey-produced āThe Color Purpleā musical ā a project she says will give āpeople something they havenāt seen from me.ā Itāll be her acting debut alongside a starry cast that includes Fantasia, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks and Halle Bailey.
H.E.R. called being the global ambassador for LāOreal an honor. She said sheās been using the platform to empower young girls and women of color just like the singer, who is Filipino and Black.
āGrowing up, I didnāt see a lot of people like me,ā she said. āI know there are so many young women out there who are like āI can do that tooā and feel beautiful. Theyāre experimenting with lipstick or a hair product. Itās really about being you and authentic to yourself and express yourself. I canāt even believe Iām capable of having that impact. Itās still kind of surreal to me when young girls are saying āI want to be like H.E.R. She plays the guitar. I want to play it too.āā
With everything on H.E.R.ās plate, she still wants to make recording new music a priority with the hopes of working with āa lot of artists that I admire.ā She collaborated with Saweetie ā who is also Filipino and Black ā for the recently released radio-friendly single āCloser.ā
āItās such a fun song. Itās something you wouldnāt necessarily expect from me and from her,ā H.E.R. said. āIām trying to do the studio. Youāll definitely hear me every once in a while, releasing music here and there. Iām trying to fit it in.ā