In a tribute to the 30th anniversary of the V Foundation and late basketball coach Jimmy Valvano’s iconic speech, on July 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, H.E.R. will give a special performance of a new single at the 2023 ESPY Awards.
While he was terminally ill with cancer, Valvano is remembered for an inspirational speech delivered at the ESPY Awards on March 3, 1993. The American college basketball player, coach and broadcaster. implored the audience to laugh, think and cry each day. He also announced the formation of the V Foundation for Cancer Research, whose motto would be “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Valvano died less than two months later, on April 28, 1993, from adenocarcinoma.
While serving as head coach at North Carolina State University, Valvano’s team won the 1983 NCAA men’s basketball title against the heavily favored Houston Cougars, and ESPN has helped raise more than $195 million for the V Foundation over the past 30 years,
Now 26 years old, H.E.R. has won five Grammys and an Oscar. In 2021, she and her collaborators D’Mile (Dernst Emile II) and Tiara Thomas won both a Grammy for song of the year for the Black Lives Matter anthem “I Can’t Breathe” and an Oscar for best original song for “Fight for You” from the film Judas and the Black Messiah.
As previously announced, Chicago White Sox pitcher and cancer survivor Liam Hendriks will be honored with this year’s Jimmy V Award for Perseverance; the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team will be given the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage; and the Buffalo Bills training staff will be awarded with the Pat Tillman Award for Service.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Raph_PH