The 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards have come and gone, sparking much conversation in their immediate wake. The annual awards show got a few things wrong and a few things right on music’s biggest night. One thing they got very, very right was choosing jazz singer Samara Joy as the winner of the coveted Best New Artist award. It was an amazing moment for the 23-year-old singer. If, however, it left you wondering who exactly this mega-talent is, let’s rewind to when she stopped by The Jennifer Hudson Show just over a week before the ceremony took place.
Samara took the stage to perform her rendition of “Guess Who I Saw Today,” a jazz standard about a woman who discovers her husband is cheating on her through a chance encounter. The song is presented as a story told from the woman’s perspective and requires an engaging singer to deliver it properly. Samara is up to the task, bringing the ballad to dazzling life on the show’s stage while wowing both Jennifer Hudson and the audience with vocals that belie her young age.
Samara Joy also got to sit down with JHud to discuss that magic moment when she found out she was GRAMMY nominated (the Bronx native broke into a dance inside New York’s Penn Station). She also explained her musical upbringing, including the fact that she’s only been singing jazz for five or six years.
With her bubbly personality and jaw-dropping talent (not to mention the two GRAMMYs now under her belt), it’s safe to say that we’ll be hearing a lot more from Samara Joy for years to come. Watch her performance and catch her interview on The Jennifer Hudson Show when you hop below.
