Here's the only important topic of discussion from last night's VMAs. Her name is Mary Lambert and this was her breakout moment.
If you've heard the wonderful song "Same Love" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, you already know who Mary Lambert is. She wrote the chorus of that song in under two hours and recorded it. She's a singer/songwriter and poet from Seattle
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis went onstage last night to perform "Same Love" live. When Lambert sang the first chorus, there was this brief moment of silence in the crowded Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It's almost as if the audience didn't expect the lovely young woman in the gold gown to be part of the performance.
Then she sang "I can't change" and the crowd erupted in cheers. No one else got a reaction like that the entire night during the ceremony. It was a spontaneous outburst of support for a talented musician and it couldn't have happened to a better artist that night.
Even a surprise appearance by Jennifer Hudson to sing the final chorus didn't put a damper on Lambert's star power. When they started singing lines back and forth, Lambert outsang Hudson. Yes, that would be the same Jennifer Hudson who largely won an Academy Award for slaying one of the most iconic anthems in all of musical theater. Hudson sang "Same Love," but she wasn't living the meaning. Lambert embodied it like a true performer.
Here's the performance from the VMAs. It's a must-watch.
Mary Lambert took the message of "Same Love" from a very beautiful and personal space, which is where the best music always comes from. Here are her own words on why "She keeps me warm" was such an important aspect of the song to her.
I spent two years thinking about making this video and why it was important and necessary. Your resounding support for “Same Love”and “She Keeps Me Warm” is the reason I feel empowered to release this video today. I never expected to hear men AND women singing the lyrics, “she keeps me warm” right along with me. I thought girls would feel weird about the pronoun of “she” and I certainly didn’t want to alienate an audience. But you didn’t care. Nobody cared about a [redacted] pronoun. You let me sing about my girl across the country and supported me and cried with me and laughed with me. You cared about love. BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT.
"She Keeps Me Warm" is Lambert's expanded version of her vision of "Same Love." It's a complete transformation. It's very sweet, with a strong folk influence and a different perspective on the same theme.
One can only hope the exposure on the VMAs will help bring Lambert into the national spotlight. Her style is right on trend with the new folk movement emerging in mainstream American music. You always have to root for a performer with this much talent and passion about what she's doing.
Thoughts on Mary Lambert, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, or anything VMAs? Share them below.