Indianapolis native Tiara Thomas wins Grammy, receives Oscar nomination

Tiara Thomas
Tiara Thomas.

Awards season is shaping up nicely for Lawrence North High School and Ball State University graduate Tiara Thomas.

In the span of 12 hours, Thomas won a Grammy Award and became an Academy Award nominee. Writing with R&B star H.E.R. on two different songs delivered the accolades for Thomas.

The duo appeared onstage Sunday to collect the Record of the Year Grammy for H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe.” On Monday morning, Thomas was announced as an Oscar nominee in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing H.E.R.’s “Fight for You” – which is heard in the film “Judas and the Black Messiah.

Producer D’Mile shares a writing credit on “I Can’t Breathe” and “Fight for You.”

Thomas, 31, has described H.E.R., otherwise known Northern California native Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, as being similar to a younger sister. H.E.R., 23, won a Best R&B Album Grammy for her 2017 debut album that included a song co-written by Thomas.

Thomas, who began playing guitar at age 12, co-wrote one song that appeared on 2019 H.E.R. album “I Used to Know Her.”

A former model for American Eagle Outfitters, Thomas co-wrote Wale single “Bad” and appeared as guest vocalist on the song’s original recording. “Bad” reached No. 21 on Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart in 2013. Wale subsequently released a remix of the song that featured Rihanna instead of Thomas.

The Oscars telecast will air April 25 on ABC.