Country singer Mickey Guyton made history as the first Black female artist to perform her own song at the Academy of Country Music Awards, according to Yahoo .
Guyton sang “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” at the 55th anniversary of the show, which was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. It was also the country star’s performance debut at the ACM Awards.
“It’s been a struggle for me for a long time. To get this opportunity to represent for Black women at the ACM Awards and to sing a song about the oppression of women and trying to change that — it really does mean a lot to me to be able to do that at the ACMs,” Guyton said, as reported by Fox News .
The 37-year-old musician was accompanied by Keith Urban, who played the piano during her act. Guyton expressed how much the show meant to her on Twitter , sharing a video of her appearance that received nearly 90,000 views within a day.
Still in disbelief this just happened. Performing “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?” at the @opry for the @acmawards was so incredibly special. Something I will remember forever. ? Thank you @keithurban for joining me. #ACMAwards pic.twitter.com/3CCUe96ZUj
— Mickey Guyton (@MickeyGuyton) September 17, 2020
Many of the singer’s fans left heart-warming comments after she posted the video, sharing how amazing her debut was.
“It hit me hard and brought tears to my eyes,” one fan stated in regard to the footage that was shared.
“What an emotional and impactful performance,” another person commented.
Part of what made Guyton’s performance so emotional for the people who watched it were the lyrics of the piece, which the singer described as a call to action in an interview prior to the ACM Awards.
Guyton described the song as a tool to draw attention to the fact that there are a lack of women represented in country music, especially as artists featured on the radio.
Guyton confessed that her journey as a country performer and artist had been a difficult ride. She explained that she was attempting to write about topics that appealed to everybody else’s life even if it did not relate to what she had gone through.
According to the Fox News report, the country star also revealed that it took a marriage counseling session with her husband, Grant Savoy, to uncover what she had to offer in the industry. Savoy confessed that he felt her music was not relatable to other people because she was avoiding what made her different.
“After he told me that,” Guyton recalled, “I was, like, oh my God. OK, well, I need to just write about being a Black woman. That’s my story.”
