To any hard-headed music lover who came up preferring hands-on instrumentation over electronic sampling (such as myself, admittedly), Foo Fighters are a band that stands as one of the final bastions of little-to-no-nonsense rock music. So, naturally, their appearance on SNL in late October 2023 came as a breath of fresh air to their fans around the world.
However, during their performance of “The Glass” (from their latest album But Here We Are), Dave Grohl and company were joined by a face that may be a little unfamiliar to those of us who have yet to break free of the aforementioned hard-headed listening habits. Instead, we choose to crank “Everlong” and “Best of You” on repeat like we’re still pre-teens. No judgment!
However, we digress – first off, check out the performance below, then read on for everything you need to know about H.E.R. – the bespectacled guitarist and vocalist who joined Foo Fighters on the SNL stage.
Who is Foo Fighters’ SNL collaborator, H.E.R.?
H.E.R. (an acronym for “Having Everything Revealed”) is the stage name of Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, a 26-year-old R&B singer hailing from California. Wilson got her feet wet in the music industry very early (before adopting the H.E.R. pseudonym), having performed a cover of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” on the Today show at age 10.
Wilson went on to release her debut work as H.E.R. in 2016 by way of a self-titled EP, H.E.R. Vol. 1. Some of her most-played songs on Spotify as of 2023 include “Could’ve Been,” “Every Kind of Way,” and “Come Through.”
While it’s unclear how exactly the Foo Fighters / H.E.R. collaboration came to pass behind the scenes, its initial sparks can be traced back to an interview the latter gave Zane Lowe during the Apple Music Awards in 2021. Wilson discussed a conversation she’d had with Dave Grohl during the event, saying she “would love to work with him on an album or something.”
While Wilson wasn’t featured in the Foo’s 2023 release But Here We Are, it seems the singer/songwriter’s dream came to pass by way of the SNL collaboration. Hopefully, we’ll see her feature in a more set-in-stone capacity in the band’s next LP!