Celebrities
Kim Petras celebrates historic Grammy win
The 30-year-old singer made history as the first transgender woman to win for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Kim Petras is now a Grammy winning artist after she became the first transgender woman to win for the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.
The German singer-songwriter won the category alongside Sam Smith for their hit collaboration, ‘Unholy.’
When the pair took the stage to accept their Grammy Award, Smith stood back and let Petras celebrate her historic moment.
“Sam graciously wanted me to accept this award because I’m the first transgender woman to win this award,” Petras said. “I just want to thank all the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight.”
“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.”
Petras gives a shout out to her idols
The singer also took the chance to thank Madonna for inspiring her when she was growing up, as well as her mother and Smith for believing in her.
“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,” Kim said.
“Sam, thank you, you’re a true angel and hero in my life and I love you. And everyone who made the song, too, I love you guys. Sorry, I didn’t write down the names. I love you.”
‘Unholy’ on the Billboard charts
The song gave Petras her first ever placing on the Billboard Hot 100 when it debuted at number three on the week of release in October 2022, before moving up a place in its second week on the chart. ‘Unholy’ reached the top spot four weeks after being released.
That made it the first song from either Petras or Smith to top the charts. It also saw Petras become the first openly transgender woman to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with Smith being the first openly non-binary person to achieve the same feat.
‘Unholy’ garnered 76.7 million streams and 20,000 downloads worldwide in the week which made it the number 1 spot.