Meet the Firefighter & ‘Texas Girl’ Who Presented Beyoncé with Album of the Year at the Grammys
Over the course of her 35-year-career, Beyoncé has continually raised the bar.
She’s changed the way artists release their music, revolutionized the album format, and defied the confines of genres to produce work that has received a whopping 99 Grammy nominations — the most of any artist in Grammy history. In the industry, she is virtually peerless. But for the last decade, despite the undeniable impact of LPs like Lemonade and Renaissance, the most-coveted award of the evening continued to elude her.
Until Sunday night.
Sunday, Cowboy Carter — Beyoncé’s genre-bending thesis on country, Americana, and roots music — broke through the noise and won Album of the Year, sending the audience into wild cheers and a standing ovation.
Up on stage, it was Los Angeles County Fire Department PIO Captain Sheila Kelliher Berkoh who had the honor of reading out the winner. And as she opened up the envelope, she gasped, clutching it to her chest as she called out the name. It played out like something straight from a movie, down to the dramatic pause before she announced “Cowboy Carter” to a room full of applause. In that moment, it seemed like Kelliher Berkoh had been waiting — just like the rest of us — for the Recording Academy to finally give Beyoncé her due.
The Barbed Wire spoke with Captain Kelliher Berkoh about her memorable reaction, Cowboy Carter, and her time at the Grammy Awards.
Before we get to the big moment from Sunday night, can you tell me a little bit about your career with the LA County Fire Department, and what your work has looked like this year?
This is my 25th year with the department. I started in 2000, and I’ve been in the field for most of my career, but this has been a crazy month. I was there the day the fires started in the Palisades. Because the winds were unusually strong, I was already in position, so when the fire did pop up, just on the other side of the hill, I saw it had a huge potential for growth. I don’t think I had a day off for 26 days after that.
I was managing not only our local news, but our international news, national news, handling media requests and also requests from people who wanted to support us and donate.
It was my Super Bowl, honestly, just making sure I could give everybody the most up-to-date information because it was incredibly dynamic. We had 300-foot flame lengths and ember casts the size of baseballs. Witnessing that devastation in real time is just hard to put into words.
You mentioned that you’re a Texas girl, what’s your connection to the state?
I've moved around a lot. I was born in Las Vegas, then my family moved to Hawaii, and then Omaha, Nebraska for quite a while. Then I started school at Oklahoma State University, and my parents moved to Texas, so I wound up transferring to Texas A&M to study speech communication.
When did you find out that the LA County Firefighters were going to be a part of the Grammy Awards?
It was on day four or five of the fires, when it was just madness that a retired firefighter from LA County told me that their neighbor was one of the producers for the show. He touched base with me and asked if we might want to be a part of something honoring the firefighters, and I said yes, but at the time, I don’t think it actually registered.
It wasn’t until later, when I had a chance to process that I realized, “Oh my gosh, we’re doing the Grammys for real.” Maybe a week or two out, we realized that we would be presenting, and we were like, “Wait, really?”
It seems like you were really excited about the opportunity. Have you always been a big music fan?
Because my family moved around so much, it could be kind of lonely. I mean, back then, you couldn’t FaceTime or text your friends. My family also didn’t have a lot, but what I always had was music. So the Grammys have always been my favorite award show, and I feel like I walked in very aware of all of the artists because I have 14-year-old twins, and we play DJ in the car. That’s what me and my brothers did when we were kids with our little 45 records, and now I get to see the world through my kids’ eyes as well. I ask for their top five songs, and then I get to share mine, too.
Did you have any thoughts going into last night about who you thought should win?
The idea of winning is so obscure when it comes to art, because everyone is so incredible and so different, but I was excited for Beyoncé because I love the genre-breaking she did. I think she even said last night, “genre is a codeword to keep artists in their place.”
Aside from presenting, what was the biggest highlight of the night?
There was just such a concentration of talent in the room last night. Janelle Monáe was just wow, Benson Boone reminded me of a modern-day Freddy Mercury, and Chappell Roan — her performance was just off the charts. We got to see Queen Latifah and Bruno Mars, and Gloria Estefan wanted us all to gather around and take photos. Everyone was just so gracious, and it was just so amazing because normally, we do our work in the dark. For 25 years, I’ve worked all night long in some of the busiest areas and put out fires that no one would ever see or know about. That’s what we signed up for, and I love doing it. But it was incredibly emotional to feel that gratitude from people.
Now, onto the woman of the hour. Would you consider yourself a Beyoncé fan?
I love her, and I love listening to her music. I was partying in the club to Destiny’s Child and watching her career since then — I’ve just been a huge fan. Whoever would have won, I would’ve been super pumped, you know, I love Andre 3000, but I just was thinking, “God, I hope she gets it.”
What resonated with you about Cowboy Carter specifically?
There were some really beautiful messages in it, and I guess it struck a chord. One of my brothers went to the University of Houston, and because Texas A&M wasn’t far, we would go visit him all the time. I had a lot of fun there, and I was always so struck by it because it’s a big-time city, but it’s country, too. It’s Texas. So when you watch Beyoncé do her usual thing, you’re like, “Yes ma’am, you do that better than anybody else.” But with (Cowboy Carter), it was like, “Absolutely! You should be flying that country flag, because you’re part of the fabric of what Texas is.” It’s such a melting pot of people, so it didn’t strike me as odd at all that she wanted to go that direction. Like, those are your roots, girl. I think that was just the overriding feeling I had going in it. I was just proud of that.
Do you have a favorite song from the album?
Of course. I love “Texas Hold ‘Em.” It’s an earworm that never gets old, but “II Most Wanted” is my favorite.
Do you remember what was going through your mind as you were opening up the envelope?
Oh yeah. This was just a fleeting thought, but for a second, I was thinking, “Well, she won country album of the year, are they going to double up? I don’t know.” I wasn’t sure if she would snag it, so when I saw it there, I was so excited. I was just thinking, “What?” And when I read it, my brain was moving so fast, I messed up the name, and Carter came out first.
I think it just highlighted the intensity and excitement of the moment.
I know, I just thought to myself, “Really, girl?” [Laughs] But really, I was truly so, so happy for her. When she came up on stage, she came over, and I gave her a hug and told her, “I’m a Texas girl, and I couldn’t be happier for you. This is so well-deserved.” She was super generous and looked me in the eye and said, “Thank you so much.” And backstage, she was equally as gracious, and her daughter was adorable as well. They were amazing and so, so sweet. They took pictures with us and were so gracious, I thought that was so kind.
It feels like people have been waiting for this moment for so long, and even in her speech Beyoncé said, “It’s been many, many years,” of her journey, and closed it out by saying she hopes we keep pushing forward and opening doors. How did that hit you being there?
I mean, on a personal level, when I was hired, I believe I was only the 15th female in our fire department’s history, and I think there were only seven of us out in the field working. There are over 3000 uniformed firefighters (in the LACFD), so I’ve always been less than 1% of the population in my job, and not only did I survive, but I thrived, and I proved myself. I’m not bragging, that’s just context, because in this day, you have people whining about diversity and inclusion, and this is what it actually looks like. It’s not a scary thing. I’m not here because the standards were lowered, on the contrary: the standards were the exact same, and I had to prove myself 10 times over than my male counterparts. So I think on a beautiful, subtle note, that’s what her album, and the awards last night showed: We’re all out here trying, and working hard, and there are people who are not given opportunity who should be — because they bring something incredibly valuable to the table. So I love that that was on display throughout all of the Grammys.
