Watch Brittany Howard’s Awe-Inspiring Cover Of Nina Simone’s ‘Revolution’

Last night, Brittany Howard delivered a triumphant, high-energy performance of Nina Simone’s “Revolution” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Howard’s appearance came just hours after the 2021 Grammy nominations were announced, including five nods for her solo debut, Jamie.

Donning in a bright red suit, Howard commanded the stage – and likely inspired every viewer at home to get up and move. The Alabama Shakes frontwoman put her own spin on Simone’s song, which originally appeared on the singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist’s 1969 LP, To Love Somebody.

Howard, who released Jamie in September of 2019, received a total of five Grammy nominations for her solo outing, including Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for single “Stay High”; Best R&B Performance for “Goat Head”; Best American Roots Performance for “Short and Sweet”; and Best Alternative Music Album. Jamie also received a nod for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, honoring the album’s audio and mastering engineer, Shawn Everett.

Howard previously scored four Grammy Awards for her work with the Alabama Shakes and has received a total of nine nominations to-date, including two last year for “History Repeats,” the first single off Jamie.

The widely-acclaimed album also ranked on numerous year-end round-ups, including those by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Billboard, the New York Times, and NPR, who placed Jamie at No.1 on their “25 Best Albums of 2019” list. Writer Ann Powers praised that Howard and her collaborators (including Robert Glasper on piano, Nate Smith on drums, and her Alabama Shakes bandmate, Zac Cockrell, on bass) “took chances. They got psychedelic, locked into heavy funk, slid into classic R&B and then cleared space for Howard to be lonely, like the blues chanteuse she also can be. This album is a radical act of self-claiming, one that does more than reintroduce a great 21st Century voice.”

Jaime is out now and can be bought here.