After this year’s CMT Artists of the Year, you will remember Mickey Guyton’s name.
The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter — with the help of British songstress Yola — brought down the house at the Artists of the Year event with their powerful performance of Guyton’s hit song, “Remember Her Name” — which led to a standing ovation from the audience at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
After a video message from dancer Misty Copeland, who called her “a pioneer,” Guyton accepted the Breakout Artist of the Year award with a look back and a time when she thought her country music dreams would never be a reality.
“Three years ago this was not even a possibility for me. I had completely given up on myself and my dream to sing the genre of music that I held so close to my heart,” Guyton told the crowd. “It wasn’t until I had a conversation with my husband and he told me to live and be authentically me, unapologetically, and write from my experience as a Black woman living in America. and it changed my life and I have made it my life’s purpose to show that country music is really everyone’s music.”
She then dedicated her award to that “little seven-year-old Black girl at home, that indigenous boy, that LGBTQIA+ teen, and that Latino boy or girl, and anyone marginalized or unseen — and yes even the haters on social media — this is for you. I am here for you.”
Guyton ended her speech by saying she was “blown away.” It’s safe to assume everyone else was too. Watch her performance of “Remember Her Name” in the video below.
