State Champ Radio Maren Morris Performs ‘Girl’ & Thanks Women Who ‘Held Me Upright’ This Year at Billboard Women in Music
Written by djfrosty on March 7, 2024
Maren Morris delivered an inspiring — and very fitting — rendition of her 2019 No. 1 Country Airplay hit “Girl” before accepting the Visionary Award at the Billboard Women in Music celebration Wednesday night (March 6) at YouTube Theater in Inglewood, Calif.
Accompanying herself on guitar, and backed only by a guitarist and keyboardist (“Girl” co-writer Greg Kurstin), Morris advised “Don’t you lose your halo” in the song that serves as a pep talk to herself and all women who despair when they compare themselves to others, instead of focusing on their own gifts.
Accepting her award from Andra Day, Morris then delighted the audience by admitting that she didn’t consider herself a visionary, but joked, “I have visions. I have delusions. So I appreciate getting a trophy for them.”
Morris, who previously received the Billboard’s Breakthrough Award at the 2016 Women in Music ceremony, thanked the women in her circle for helping her through the past year, which saw the Grammy winner break ties with the country music community and go through a divorce from Ryan Hurd. “I would not have been able to survive this past year of my life, not to get too serious, but this year has been a lot and the women in my life have truly banded around me and held me upright,” she said.
She also praised her largely female team, including manager Janet Weir, for taking her dreams and making them come true. “My favorite thing about my team, and just women in general — our visions, our ideas, our crazy theories, whatever it is — our ideas don’t just sit in a voice note. We figure out how to execute them on the phone with each other the next day and we make them real. I feel like we’re the best at that.”
Morris ended her speech with a nod to her fellow honorees and her plans for the rest of the night. “Everyone that’s getting honored tonight deserves it so much. I’m a fan of all of them,” she shared. “I’m just excited to have a drink after this and enjoy the rest of show.”
Watch her performance of “Girl” above and her acceptance speech below:
