Source: Kevin Winter / Getty
Mickey Guyton made history last night as the first Black female country artist to perform at the Grammy Awards, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Guyton performed her socially conscious single “Black Like Me” single at the 63rd annual ceremony. The song was released in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and the subsequent social unrest all over the world that followed.
The 37-year-old explained how the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd inspired her during an appearance on CBS This Morning. According to Guyton, she “had this song that was expressing so much of what I was feeling and I felt a lot of other people were feeling, so I first put it on my Instagram for healing purposes and Spotify asked for it and here we are.”
A native of Arlington, Texas, Guyton is the first Black woman to be nominated for a Best Country Solo performance Grammy as well.
Guyton reportedly signed to Capitol Nashville in 2011 after moving from Texas to Los Angeles. Her journey to country music superstardom was a slow build. Her debut single, “Better Than You Left Me,” was released in 2015, but struggled to receive commercial support from traditional country music radio programmers.
The singer dished on the struggles she has encountered as a Black woman in country during an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “There have been times where even my manager has been like, ‘Maybe we should just go and try something else if they don’t get you,’” she explained. “I said, ‘Like what? Like pop music? No. Like R&B music? No.’ I am not that. This is where I’m supposed to be. That’s why I’m still here.”
Fresh off of her historic performance and nominations at the Grammy Awards, Guyton is slated to co-host the American Country Music Awards with country star Keith Urban on April 18.
