Earlier this month, H.E.R. set the Grammys stage alight with an electrifying medley of tracks from her debut album, for which she recruited a wealth of music A-listers. Now, after weeks of waiting, footage of the show-stopping performance has finally emerged online.
For the occasion, the Fender signature artist was joined by Blink-182 drummer and in-demand session man Travis Barker, as well as legendary multi-instrumentalist Lenny Kravitz.
The lineup was completed by R&B songwriter and producer pair Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – wielding a keytar and bass guitar, respectively – who first flanked a guitar-less H.E.R. as she kicked off the extended medley with a quick-fire snippet of her track, Damage.
A brief interlude saw H.E.R. take up position behind a water-drenched drum kit for a bruising solo prior to a soundbite of We Made It, though the stool was soon occupied by Barker, who supplied the pounding beats for a cover of Kravitz’s 1993 track, Are You Gonna Go My Way.
Kravitz himself stood in support of the pair with a Gibson Flying V, before some sneaky camera pans revealed H.E.R. wielding her Fender Chrome Glow Stratocaster, which she used for the thumping gain-laden melody hook.
Once Kravitz was locked into rhythm duties, the pair then transitioned to the MGM Grand’s B-Stage without missing a beat, with H.E.R. taking the opportunity to go to town on her fretboard for an electrifying finale solo.
You can see footage from the performance in the video above.
Aside from the Kravtiz cover, every song in the medley was lifted from H.E.R.’s debut studio album, Back of My Mind, which arrived last year.
H.E.R. had an evening to remember at the Grammys last month. As well as performing her star-studded medley, she also went on to win Best Traditional R&B Performance for her Oscar-winning track, Fight For You.
It takes her total career Grammys count up to five, adding to her Song of the Year, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance accolades.
The rest of the ceremony turned out to be a momentous night for guitar-based artists. Foo Fighters – who recently announced the passing of Taylor Hawkins – won three awards, which included Best Rock Album for Medicine at Midnight, Best Rock performance for Making a Fire and Best Rock Song for Waiting on a War.
Jimmy Jam accepted the awards on Foo Fighters behalf, who were absent from the ceremony after canceling their appearance following Hawkins’ death.
Elsewhere, Dream Theater scooped an award for Best Metal Performance for The Alien, which is lifted from their 2021 album, A View From The Top Of The World. There were also awards for Brothers Osborne, Cedric Burnside, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and St. Vincent.
