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\n\tIf you asked H.E.R.<\/a> what her life\u2019s purpose is, she\u2019d tell you it\u2019s to inspire women and young girls. It\u2019s no accident, then, that many of the major projects she\u2019s taken on over the past couple of years have fallen in line with that mission, from contributing her newly Oscar-nominated<\/a> Diane Warren collaboration \u201cThe Journey\u201d to Tyler Perry\u2019s Six Triple Eight <\/em>\u2014 about the all-Black, all-female 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of World War II \u2014 to examining her own definitions of womanhood and empowerment on a highly anticipated followup to 2021\u2019s Back of My Mind<\/em>, which she\u2019s teased<\/a> is arriving at some point in 2025. And now, H.E.R. is turning her focus on girls in sports, reimagining Bruce Springsteen\u2019s iconic 1975 hit \u201cBorn to Run\u201d for Dove\u2019s moving new Super Bowl<\/a> commercial that premiered Tuesday (Feb. 4) with an important message at its center. <\/p>\n \n\tHer full version of the track will arrive one day later.<\/p>\n \n\tIn the 30-second spot \u2014 which will air during fourth quarter of the ultimate Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles game Sunday (Feb. 9) \u2014 a breathless 3-year-old girl sprints through her suburb as H.E.R.\u2019s buoyant take on The Boss\u2019 anthem plays. \u201cThese legs are unstoppable,\u201d onscreen text reads. \u201cAt 14, she\u2019ll think they\u2019re unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tReminding viewers how frequently young female athletes hear critiques about their bodies, the commercial then calls on it\u2019s audience to \u201cchange the way we talk to our girls.\u201d It\u2019s a directive that feels especially poignant considering the popularity boom women\u2019s sports have seen in recent years (thanks in no small part to powerhouses like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese), as well as the sociopolitical influx in online communities picking apart players\u2019 appearances (the <\/a>t<\/a>r<\/a>a<\/a>n<\/a>s<\/a>p<\/a>h<\/a>o<\/a>b<\/a>i<\/a>c<\/a> hate<\/a> cisgender Algerian boxer Imane Khelif experienced during the 2024 Olympics comes to mind). And it\u2019s definitely something that weighs on H.E.R.\u2019s mind as a former athlete and role model to her 18-year-old and 3-year-old sisters, which is why she says she jumped at the chance to translate \u201cBorn to Run\u201d into a heartfelt tribute for young girls all over the world.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m seeing myself in all of these young girls and thinking about all these things that we forget to appreciate,\u201d she tells Billboard<\/em>. \u201cI have a body that simply moves, and I love all the things that it can do.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re born to run,\u201d she adds, her voice swelling with passion. \u201cThere\u2019s so many layers to that message. It\u2019s like you\u2019re born to be exactly who you are, to chase your path and follow your own dreams and your own heart. It\u2019s not about anyone else. You\u2019re born uniquely you.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSpeaking over Zoom just one day ahead of the premiere of Dove\u2019s new campaign, the singer-guitarist broke down how she made Springsteen\u2019s signature song her own, revealed how the project informed her upcoming album\u2019s sound and explained why she aligns so strongly with the brand\u2019s message. Read her conversation with Billboard <\/em>below.<\/p>\n \n\tHow did you approach re-recording such a famous song?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tThe song itself is so iconic, I didn\u2019t want to do a complete left turn in my recreation of it. It\u2019s so uplifting and joyful, and \u201cborn to run,\u201d it\u2019s the perfect lyric. It\u2019s the perfect message, and kind of the perfect pace for a message like this.<\/p>\n \n\tIt was all about the image of this young girl \u2014 keeping that in mind was the most important thing. We started with drums to kind of keep the energy but still make it my own, and I played some guitars on it to keep that iconic lead. It was all about adding even more soul to it. That iconic line that\u2019s usually just the guitar line, I turned into vocals. I like doing things like that \u2014 taking pieces from the instrumentation and turning them into vocals \u2014 and my vocals definitely make [the song] a little more feminine.<\/p>\n \n\tIs Bruce a personal hero of yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tOh my gosh, absolutely. I love Bruce. I grew up listening to a lot of Bruce with my dad. He\u2019s iconic.<\/p>\n \n\tI actually got to meet him two years ago and he was so sweet. I was like, \u201cI\u2019m such a big fan, my name\u2019s Gabi.\u201d He was like, \u201cOh my god, H.E.R., I\u2019m such a big fan of you, I\u2019ve mentioned you in interviews, you really rock out on stage.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cMan, I get it from you!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhy does the message of the campaign resonate with you personally?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tWhere do I begin? A lot of my purpose has been to encourage women to be authentic and comfortable in their own skin and embrace who they are. That to me is one of the most important things I could ever do on this planet. That\u2019s always been my mission, so that\u2019s really what got me excited about this. It\u2019s really perfect timing \u2014 I\u2019ve been working on an album and the messaging of this album has really been about empowerment.<\/p>\n \n\tI have younger sisters, and it\u2019s always so important for me to show them that they\u2019re \u2014 I don\u2019t want to say \u201cenough.\u201d I think we\u2019ve outgrown that word. I think it\u2019s to show them that who they are is perfectly imperfect, you know what I mean? We live in this age of social media, and comparison, like they say, is really the thief of joy. I\u2019ve definitely experienced not feeling adequate. I\u2019ve felt like, \u201cOh, maybe I need to change this about me, I need to fit into this mold.\u201d But I\u2019ve realized that there is no mold. I\u2019ve tried to maintain that in my own life and exemplify that.<\/p>\n \n\tSpeaking of your new album, what can you tell us about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI\u2019ve been working on it in the midst of this [campaign]. It\u2019s funny, because working on \u201cBorn to Run,\u201d working on a Springsteen song, I feel like it\u2019s only enhancing my process in the studio. I\u2019m playing a lot more guitar on this album. And again, [the album] is all about empowerment. It was just perfect timing.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s this exploration of femininity and what it means to be a woman, what it means to me, what it means to depend on people around you and depend on yourself and love yourself, and what community means. What your expectations of love are, and the expectations you put on yourself. Just learning how to stand on my own.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s a lot of accepting ugly. And I mean that to say the parts of myself that I may ignore, that I think haven\u2019t been enough. The parts that I may be afraid to face. It\u2019s really been about embracing those things and empowering myself, not in the way that you\u2019d expect, where it\u2019s all about being triumphant \u2026 It\u2019s more like, it\u2019s OK not to be OK. It\u2019s okay to be in the process of healing. You\u2019re never fully healed. Just trusting the process and being OK with it.<\/p>\n \n\tOne of your recent projects, \u201cThe Journey,\u201d recently earned a best original song nomination ahead of the 2025 Oscars. How does that feel?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tOh my gosh, it\u2019s crazy. I\u2019m super excited about the song. It\u2019s such a powerful song, and it\u2019s also a really, really powerful movie \u2014 again, about women empowerment, and under-appreciated women. These stories hadn\u2019t been heard. I feel blessed to be a part of that story, in a small way.<\/p>\n \n\tWomen\u2019s sports are more popular than ever, but with that there\u2019s been an uptick in certain people picking apart women athletes for not looking \u201cfeminine enough.\u201d With that in mind, why is this campaign more important than ever?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s discouraging. Telling a woman that her body is not the right type, or that she needs to look a certain way, or that she\u2019s not \u201cfeminine enough\u201d \u2014 what does that even mean? It just shows you what society\u2019s idea of what\u2019s feminine is, and it\u2019s just not right. This message was definitely to break that barrier.<\/p>\n \n\tI played sports in high school and middle school, and I\u2019m really grateful that my parents gave me that confidence to not care. But there\u2019s definitely that shyness in the locker room, there\u2019s those moments of, \u201cOh man, I\u2019m afraid of myself. I\u2019m afraid that people won\u2019t accept me, that people won\u2019t like me, despite my gifts or my ability.\u201d You should never be discouraged to do something that you love and are passionate about because of the way you look.<\/p>\n \n\tThere\u2019s also been an outpouring of women expressing fear and uncertainty following the results of the 2025 election. Was that on your mind at all when working on this project?<\/strong><\/p>\n \n\tI think, in general, we can\u2019t live our lives in fear, no matter what. It\u2019s all about empowering each other \u2014 I think that\u2019s what it comes down to.<\/p>\n \n\tHear H.E.R.\u2019s cover of \u201cBorn to Run\u201d in Dove\u2019s new Super Bowl ad below.<\/em><\/p>\n