Vallejo-born H.E.R wins Oscar and Grammy, proud of Filipino heritage, likes OPM, Pinoy food

Vallejo, California-born award-winning Filipino  American  singer H.E.R. is all over the  Manila media.

And from the looks of it, she has built her legions of Filipinos fans since winning the Oscar and Grammy for songs.

More so, H.E.R. has made known her Filipino heritage and admitted in television interviews she is proud of her Filipino heritage ands to meet her fans in the Philippines soon.

H.E.R., whose real name is Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, also admitted she is a fan of many OPM (original Pilipino Music) artists like Sharon Cuneta and Gary Valenciano and likes Filipino food.

Born in Vallejo, California to Filipina mother Agnes from Nueva Ecija and an African American father, H.E.R was raised in California’s San Francisco Bay Area where she first performed as Gabi Wilson as a young child.

Meanwhile, H.E.R. invited her Filipino fans to check out her new song “Hold Us Together” with Christian singer Tauren Wells, according to Manila reports.

“Kumusta my Filipinos? Kumusta mga Kapuso?” said the 23-year-old artist. “Ingat, salamat po,” she said in a GMA Network interview.

Last month, H.E.R. took home the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “I Fight For You,” the song featured in the movie “Judas and the Black Messiah.”

Earlier in March, she won Song of the Year for “I Can’t Breathe” and Best R&B song for “Better Than I Imagined” at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, following the footsteps of two other FilAm artists. 

In 2019, she took home the Grammys Best R&B Album for “H.E.R.” and Best R&B Performance for “Best Part.” 

Thus, H.E.R. now has four Grammys and an Oscar and she’s halfway to the EGOT (Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, Tonys).

H.E.R., who’s behind the hits “Best Part” (with Daniel Caesar), “Slide,” “Focus” and “Damage,” has just released a new single titled “Come Through.” Co-written with fellow Grammy-winning star Chris Brown, the smoldering R&B song will be part of H.E.R’s upcoming album under RCA Records, “Back of My Mind,” another report stated.

In Aubrey Carampel’s report for “24 Oras” on GMA Network, the Grammy and Oscar winner revealed that she has a favorite Filipino song.

“My mom’s favorite is Sharon Cuneta so I used to sing ‘Maging Sino Ka Man’ all the time. That was my Filipino go-to song,” she said.

Apart from the Megastar, H.E.R. shared that her Filipina mom, Agnes Wilson, also is a fan of Gary Valenciano.

She said her last visit to their hometown, Nueva Ecija, in the Philippines was in 2019 and according to the singer, she only has happy memories in mind.

“Karaoke [and] my grandpa getting lasing [drunk]. It’s just fun eating a lot of sinigang and kare-kare. I just learned how to make kare-kare, by the way,” she said.

Even though H.E.R. was born and raised in America, the singer admitted in the interview and later reported by GMA News that she’s still very much connected to Filipino culture thanks to her family.

“I love my mom and how she’s made sure that I’d stay connected to my roots and even having my grandparents in the house making sure that I could speak Tagalog,” she said.

Winning an Oscar and a Grammy only in a span of months, H.E.R. said she dedicates it to God and her parents who have worked hard to “help [her] get to where [she is].”

“They always encourage me to do what I love which is music,” she said in the GMA interview and report.

She also thanked fellow Filipinos whose support for her, she said, never faltered.

“Thank you so much for all the support,” she said in Filipino. “I love you, guys. I really appreciate all the love and support that you guys show me.”

“I’ll continue celebrating [and] representing Pinoy pride, the Philippines and Filipino culture,” she added.

According to H.E.R., she is already planning to collaborate with other Filipino-American singers. ((with Jeanne Michael Penaranda)