[2] In 2021, she won her third Grammy Award for Song of the Year with her George Floyd protest-inspired single "I Can't Breathe."

Her debut studio album, Back of My Mind (2021), was met with critical acclaim and peaked at number six on the Billboard 200.

According to an interview with Guitar Center, Wilson's father was a musician in a cover band, and hosted their practice sessions in the family's living room.

[6] Additionally, members of her mother's extended family were guitarists, drummers and bassists, as well as vocalists, often playing for karaoke events.

[6] At age ten, performing as Gabi Wilson, she played an Alicia Keys song on the piano for the Today Show[3] and at the famed Apollo Theater (Harlem, New York City) on September 23, 2007, covering Aretha Franklin's "Freeway of Love".

[7][8] She made her acting debut at the age of 9, starring in the Nickelodeon television film School Gyrls, created by Nick Cannon.

[9] She performed at age 12 at the 2010 BET Awards, covering Keys' 2001 hit "Fallin'", sang a tribute to Keys at the ASCAP Awards, and competed on Radio Disney's The Next BIG Thing at age 12, with her song "My Music", featured on Radio Disney.

She received support from Usher, Tyrese, Pusha T, and Wyclef Jean; labelmates Alicia Keys and Bryson Tiller helped get the word out through Twitter co-signs, shoutouts, and re-posts.

[14] Calling the music "Slow-burning R&B that zooms in on emotional highs and lows," Rolling Stone included H.E.R.

[15] Forbes named her one of "5 Alternative R&B Artists to Look Out for in 2017", reporting: "In the same vein as The Weeknd's enigmatic introduction to the world, H.E.R.

Among the headliners were Drake, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iron Maiden, Pink and Muse.

[24] On September 20, 2020, she sang Prince's song "Nothing Compares 2 U" for the In Memoriam segment of the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards.

In February 2021, during the pre-game festivities for Super Bowl LV,[25] she performed "America the Beautiful", singing and playing guitar.

mentioned that she grew up listening to Filipino ballad singers such as Sharon Cuneta and Jay R.[34] H.E.R.

[40] She performed her original song "Change" on the episode "Active Citizenship" of the 2021 Netflix educational animated series We the People.

She sang the National Anthem at Game 1 of the 2023 World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

On October 28, 2023, she made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing “The Glass” with Foo Fighters.

She made her big-screen acting debut in The Color Purple,[43] which was released in theaters on December 25, 2023.