H.E.R. Wins Her First Oscar, Vows To Continue To 'Fight For What’s Right'

By Deepa Lakshmin


It’s been a busy awards season for H.E.R. Right after taking residence a whopping four Grammys in March — including Song of the Year for “I Can’t Breathe,” a tribute to George Floyd — the singer-songwriter snagged more hardware at the 93rd Oscars ceremony Sunday night (April 25) at Los Angeles’s Union Station. This time around, it’s “Fight For You” that’s in the spotlight, winning the Academy Award for Music (Original Song).


The song, a teamwork with Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas, is core to Judas and the Black Messiah, a must-see film about the rise of the Black Panther Party and its chairman, Fred Hampton. “I did not expect to win this award,” H.E.R. Mentioned in her acceptance speech, dazzling on stage in a royal jumpsuit calling back to Prince’s 1985 Best Original Score win for Purple Rain. “I am so, so, so, so grateful, not only to win, nevertheless to be a piece of such a critical, critical story.”


“Musicians, filmmakers,” she continued, “I believe we have a possibility plus a responsibility, to me, to tell the truth and to write history the way that it was and why it connects us to today and what we visualize going on in the world today... Knowledge is power. Music is power. And as long as I’m standing, I’m habitually going to fight for us. I’m routinely going to fight for my people and fight for what’s right, and I think that’s what music does and that’s what storytelling does.”


“Fight For You” beat out “Speak Now” from One Night in Miami, “Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7, “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, and “Io sí (Seen)” from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se). And let’s don't think about the numerous other notable tracks H.E.R.’S music went up against at the Grammys last month. Time and time again, she takes house the gold, for good reason.


“All those days listening to Sly and the Family member Stone and Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, they really paid off,” she joked, thanking her mom for joining her at the show and her dad for his taste in music.


Find all of the 2021 Oscar winners right here.