On Sunday night, Kim Petras made history as the first transgender woman to win the Grammy for Best Pop/Group performance .
The German singer and non-binary artist Sam Smith walked away with the gong for their smash hit single, Unholy, as they gathered with music’s biggest stars at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Petras revealed in her speech that Smith – who uses gender neutral pronouns – chose to let her accept the trophy in honor of the fact she had made history with the win.
During her emotional speech, the 30-year-old thanked pop music icon and LGBTQ+ advocate Madonna, in and paid tribute to the late artist SOPHIE for inspiring her.
‘I’m the first transgender woman to win this award,’ she began. ‘I want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open.’
‘SOPHIE especially, my friend who passed away two years ago who told me this would happen and always believed in me. Thank you so much for your inspiration, SOPHIE. I adore you and your inspiration will always be in my music.’
She continued by thanking Madonna ‘for fighting for LGBTQ rights’ and then turned her attention to her own mother.
‘I grew up next to a highway in nowhere Germany and my mother believed me that I was a girl and I wouldn’t be here without her and her support,’ the hitmaker added.
The pair beat out other nominees including ABBA for their single, Don’t Shut Me Down, Camila Cabello and Ed Sheeran for their collaboration, Bam Bam, Coldplay and BTS for their track, My Universe, and Post Malone and Doja Cat for their collaboration, I Like You (A Happier Song).
Shortly after the win, Petras and Smith then went on to perform the hit track which was released in September 2022 as the second single from Smith’s four studio album, Gloria.
