Grammys, 2021: H.E.R. Wins Song of the Year for “I Can’t Breathe”

For the second year in a row, the Grammy for Song of the Year went to a song recorded in a bedroom. Following “Bad Guy,” the 2020 Song of the Year by Billie Eilish and Finneas, recorded in his bedroom, the Song of the Year, 2021 is “I Can’t Breathe,” by H.E.R. She wrote it with  Dernst Emile and Tiara Thomas, and recorded it in her room at her mom’s house.

H.E.R. also won one of the other main songwriting awards of the evening, Best R&B song for “Better Than I Imagine,” written with two other great artists, Robert Glasper and Meshell Ndegeocello. 

Accepting her Grammy for Best Song with co-writer Tiara Thomas at her side, H.E.R. started by exclaiming, “Oh my God, I don’t knoH think what I want to say is that I have never been prouder to be an artist… We wrote this song over Facetime, and I never thought all my pain and fear would turn into impact and that it would possibly turn into change. And I think that is what this is about. That’s why I write music. That’s why I do this.

“I am so, so grateful. I want to thank God for giving me a voice and a pen and using me as a vessel to create change. I’m so thankful for Tiara and Dernst Emile, who were a big part of this record. I want to thank my mom – I recorded this song myself in my bedroom in my mom’s house. And I want to thank my dad. He cried. He was in tears when he heard this song.he was the first person that I played it for,. And remember – we are the change that we wish to see. And that fight that we had in us in the Summer of 2020–keep that same energy. Thank you.”