Gabriella Wilson is known by most of her fans as H.E.R.—the singer behind the signature shades with Grammy-award winning R&B songs and albums.
Of wearing the glasses, she previously told Variety:
"Honestly, the reason I wanted to be H.E.R. is because I felt people tended to focus on the looks of things instead of music - listening with their eyes and not their ears."
"It was a social media time of the whole package: 'This is what an artist should be; this is what a woman should be."
"So when I first released music, I wanted to be a silhouette - these truthful stories were what I wanted to show, not me."
More recently, however, she opened up on Good Morning America about letting people "get to know the person behind H.E.R.."
She said:
"I've been re-finding my voice. Now I'm not wearing glasses."
"I can't be acting and wearing glasses, so I think it's time for people to really get to know the person behind H.E.R.."
"Her is me, but at the same time, it's a new chapter of my life, and I think I'm really finding that connection, and I'm allowing people to see under the layers a little bit."
On Instagram earlier this week, H.E.R. posted photos and a video—sans glasses—with the caption, "In my purest form."
Viewers of the photos had to do a double take.
@hermusicofficial/Instagram
Many also compared the small but mighty transformation to Superman and his reporter by day alter ego Clark Kent.
H.E.R. played Belle in the live action Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration which aired on December 15 on ABC.
H.E.R.—who is Black and Filipino—opened up about being a Disney princess on The View:
"I never thought I could be a Disney princess."
"Of course, every little girl wants to be a Disney princess, but I've never seen one that looks like me - so I get to be that to little girls now."
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration is still streaming on Disney+.
H.E.R. is without her glasses in the special, but she's definitely hard to miss.
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit