Gabriella 'Gabi' Wilson (born June 27, 1997), better known by her stage name H.E.R. (acronym for "Having Everything Revealed"), is an American singer from Vallejo, California. She signed to RCA Records and has released two extended plays under the label: H.E.R. Volume 1 (2016) and H.E.R. Volume 2 (2017). Her identity was previously unknown as she preferred to remain anonymous and only be represented by her music.
Background
Addressing the secrecy over her identity, H.E.R. has said: "The mystery is a metaphor for who I am, or who I was at the time of creating the project…I feel like oftentimes we don’t like to be open as people about our emotions or things that we are going through. At the time [of recording], I was very closed off except for when I was writing or when I was in the studio."
She explained further, "I am a voice for women who feel like they're alone in these situations. This project came from an emotion, and that's what I want it to be about – not what I look like or who I'm with, but the raw emotion and support for women." To NPR she added, "I feel like this is the era of the anti-star. I really just wanted it to be about the music, and get away from, 'Who is she with?' and 'What is she wearing?'"
Career
Emerging in late 2016 with her debut EP, H.E.R. Volume 1 (2016), H.E.R. received support from Usher, Tyrese, Pusha T, and Wyclef Jean along with labelmates Alicia Keys and Bryson Tiller helped get the word out through Twitter co-signs, shoutouts, and re-posts. In April 2017 Rihanna posted an Instagram clip with H.E.R.'s track "Focus" playing in the background. The clip has been viewed over five million times. Additional public support came from Issa Rae of HBO's Insecure, Taraji P. Henson of Empire, Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner. The tracks on H.E.R. Vol. 1 have collectively been streamed over 20 million times on Spotify and over 65 million times across all streaming music providers worldwide.
NPR listed H.E.R. Vol. 1 as the first selection in its "5 Essential R&B Albums You Slept On" roundup. Calling the music "Slow-burning R&B that zooms in on emotional highs and lows," Rolling Stone included H.E.R. in its March 2017 "10 Artists You Need To Know" roundup. And Forbes named her one of "5 Alternative R&B Artists To Look Out For In 2017", reporting: "In the same vein as The Weeknd's enigmatic introduction to the world, H.E.R.'s image remains a mystery. The irony, though, is that her moniker is an acronym for Having Everything Revealed."
Her follow-up EP, H.E.R. Vol. 2 (2017), was released on June 16, 2017 and includes the single "Say It Again".
Her notable live performances include the 2017 BET Experience concerts at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi, Lil Yachty, Rae Sremmurd, Bryson Tiller, and Khalid.
She was recently on tour with Bryson Tiller for the Set It Off tour, and recently concluded her first headlining tour, the Lights On Tour, in support of her most recent effort H.E.R. Vol. 2.
She released H.E.R. Vol. 2, The B Sides (2017) on October 20, 2017 along with the single titled 2, released on October 13, 2017. The music On Vol. 1 was produced by an anonymous person from YouTube who creates video game music and remastered songs from the past.