Mickey Guyton made country music history for the second time after becoming the first Black solo female artist to earn a Grammy nomination in a country music category, by becoming the Academy of Country Music Awards‘ first Black woman host on Sunday, according to NBC News.
“My hopes are to bring positive light and love and acceptance to this job,” Guyton told NBC.
Guyton made good on her promise to offer the audience a good performance and many wardrobe changes as she gracefully embraced her first gig as an award show host, relying on the support of industry legend Keith Urban.
“You know, Keith Urban is from Australia and he had an affinity for country music,” she said. “I’m sure when he first started he wasn’t getting the most welcoming arms and now he’s here. He’s using his platform to uplift me, and that means so much.”
Read More: Mickey Guyton is first Black woman to host Academy of Country Music Awards
After Lil Nas X‘s “Old Town Road” reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and was removed for not representing the genre, according to Rolling Stone, a certain disparity in the world of country music was emphasized to the world.
“Well, a lot of people, especially today, are only seeing Lil Nas X or think that country music is just white guys, beers and trucks, and that is not the case,” Guyton said. “There’s all types of country music. There have been a lot of Black people in country music pounding the pavement for a very long time.”
Guyton longs to disprove antiquated stereotypes and other misguided notions by demonstrating that Black artists can “sing country, pursue it and love it, too.”
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Guyton, aware of the power she possess as a public figure, uses her platform to project her voice directly to the many underrepresented women of the world. “So often, we’ve grown up — especially young little Black girls who have grown up not loving themselves because we didn’t see ourselves in anything. Now we’re seeing ourselves,” she said.
Channeling the spirits and successes of her idols LeAnn Rimes, Whitney Houston, CeCe Winans and her all-time favorite, Dolly Parton, Guyton follows in the footsteps of talented, pioneering women who used music as a muse for creation and a means for change.
“I mean, Dolly Parton is a national treasure, an international treasure in my personal opinion, and she’s been preaching love and acceptance way before it was the thing to do,” she said. “She loved her big boobs, and as much as people talk about that, she was like, ‘I am who I am and you’re going to take it or leave it,’ and she is that person to this day.”
“She really does stand by her truth, and she thinks that Black lives matter, and she is all things great and I just love her,” she added.
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Guyton’s message for Sunday evening was put quite simply, “We’re here.”
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