A 20-year-old former chorister at St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, has won a Grammy Award for his work on a winning track.
Blair Ferguson contributed to the track ‘Snooze’ by American singer-songwriter SZA. The record won the award for Best R&B Song at the ceremony in Los Angeles. Under the name BLK Beats, Blair wrote the initial demo for the song, which hit number two on the US Billboard charts in July and reached number 18 in the UK.
Blair now lives between Los Angeles and Edinburgh. His father, Stephen Ferguson, was in LA during the awards ceremony and said, “Seeing Blair being awarded his Grammy gives me such a special feeling. I genuinely believe that being a part of the choir and the community at St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, has been important to his development. We’re looking forward to dropping into the Cathedral when we get back from LA.”
Blair started making his own music when he was just 15, while singing in the choir at St Mary’s. The Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, reflected, “I remember when Blair first joined the choir at St Mary’s and particularly remember presenting him with award ribbons as he progressed through the Voice for Life scheme of the Royal School of Church Music. Blair has now found his voice in the wider world of music. Those of us who have watched his progress from chorister to Grammy Award winner couldn’t feel more proud of him.”
Frikki Walker, the Director of Music at St Mary’s, echoed the comments, saying, “We’re always excited to know what our choristers go on to do, and we’re especially excited that one of them has now won a Grammy Award!”
After collecting his award, Ferguson told the Recording Academy, “I feel amazing. It’s incredible to be out here, being from Scotland and representing the country… It’s incredible, huge thanks to the whole team, to SZA, and to all my co-producers. It’s just been an incredible experience.”
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Photo shows Blair Ferguson being presented with a Dark Blue Voice for Life Ribbon as part of the choir of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, by the Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth in 2013.
