MICKEY GUYTON DELIVERS POWERFUL HISTORIC GRAMMY AWARDS PERFORMANCE OF “BLACK LIKE ME”
“Sending a not-so-subtle reminder to country music in particular about the challenges still faced by artists of color…Guyton delivered a stirring performance” The New York Times
“Mickey delivered a poignant and empowering message for everyone watching” Billboard
“Mickey Guyton further proved her stardom” Variety
“The night’s most affecting live performance was, arguably, Mickey Guyton’s ‘Black Like Me’” NPR
Mickey Announced as Co-Host of 56th Academy of Country Music Awards with Keith Urban
Capitol Nashville’s Mickey Guyton performed her powerful “Black Like Me” as part of last night’s GRAMMY Awards, watch HERE, making her the first Black female country artist to perform on the prestigious show. The performance was commended as a highlight of the night with Uproxx noting, “Mickey Guyton is one of the breakout stars in country music this year. Guyton represents the best of the genre’s future and shows her breadth as a songwriter and performer. Guyton made her debut on the Grammys stage with the kind of easy grace that proves she’s a star in the making.” Additional praise came from Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Tonight and more:
“The song offers a vivid reality check from an artist who’s spoken frankly about the challenges faced by Black artists in the overwhelmingly white world of country music” Los Angeles Times
“Guyton dazzled at center stage…a moving performance” Entertainment Tonight
“a country song with a fresh perspective” The Tennessean
“displaying her impressive voice as she shared the song’s poignant message” PopCulture
“Guyton worked up to a big finish, soaring through the final chorus in her powerful upper register” Rolling Stone
In celebration of the historic moment, Mickey has released a special version of “Black Like Me (Our Voices),” listen HERE. She wanted to release a version of the song that embodies everything the song stands for – “‘Black Like Me’ is about us, you and OUR voices together,” shares Mickey. Fans can also listen to a special Mickey Guyton playlist HERE.
Mickey cowrote “Black Like Me” at a cross-genre writing camp in 2019 and released the song last summer due to fan demand. Since its release, critics have continued to praise “Black Like Me” with Billboard, NPR and The Associated Press naming it one of the Top 10 songs of 2020.
Mickey was recently announced as a co-host of the upcoming 56th Academy of Country Music Awards, alongside labelmate Keith Urban, after receiving a nomination for New Female Artist of the Year. Last year, Mickey made ACM history when she performed “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” as the first Black female solo artist to perform their own song. The performance was hailed by critics as one of the best of the show with Rolling Stone noting, “Guyton knocked it out of the park demonstrating that she’s got a world-class set of pipes as well as something important to say.”
About Mickey Guyton
Mickey Guyton was born in Arlington, Texas and began singing in church at a young age. She was drawn to a variety of artists with big voices including Dolly Parton, Cece Winans, Whitney Houston and LeAnn Rimes. After signing to Capitol Records Nashville, Mickey’s first appearance was an all-star concert at the White House captured by PBS. In 2015 she released her self-titled EP featuring her debut single “Better Than You Left Me.” The following year she was nominated for her first Academy of Country Music Award for New Female Vocalist. Mickey returned to the ACM Awards in 2019 performing “I’m Standing With You” from the BREAKTHROUGH movie soundtrack alongside Chrissy Metz, Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina and Maddie & Tae. This last year, Mickey performed her first solo ACM Awards performance of “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” with labelmate Keith Urban’s accompaniment on piano. The performance, which HITS called “…a Whitney Houston/Beyoncé power-vocal rendition of the glass-ceiling reckoning…” was named one of the best performances of the night. Mickey released her EP, Bridges, last September, which includes “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”, hailed by Variety as “country music’s song of the year”, as well as, “Black Like Me,” a song Mickey co-wrote in March 2019 at a cross-genre writing camp. Due to demand, “Black Like Me” was released in June 2020 and was named one of the Top 10 songs of 2020 by NPR, Billboard and The Associated Press. Mickey recently made history as the first Black female solo artist to earn a GRAMMY nomination in a country category (Best Country Solo Performance) for “Black Like Me” which she performed as part of the awards ceremony Sunday, March 14. In addition, Mickey was just announced as a co-host along with Keith Urban for the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards airing on CBS April 18. Mickey and her music have been featured recently by The New York Times, CBS This Morning, NPR, Today, Billboard, The Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, ELLE, The Washington Post, Paste, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, American Songwriter and Pollstar.