Songfacts®:

• This song was written by Black Pumas lead singer Eric Burton, who at the time was leading worship at a Presbyterian church, but wasn't feeling a lot of the music he was tasked to play. "I was trying to figure out how to write a song that explains the plight of someone who is spiritual trying to find their truth," he said in a track breakdown. "'Colors' was my attempt at writing something from my highest self."
• Musically, the song started with the acoustic guitar part, which Eric Burton came up with when he had just started learning how to play. "I woke up from a nap on my uncle's rooftop in New Mexico and I was just playing note after note, whatever sounded good," he explained. "It worked out because I was able to find the bar chords to go to the chorus later on."
• Black Pumas is the duo of Burton and guitarist Adrian Quesada, who is also their producer. They met in Austin, Texas, and formed the band in 2017 - just a few years earlier Burton had been busking in California. They released their first single, "Black Moon Rising," in 2018. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year with "Colors," which got a music video in November 2019 and got added to lots of playlists.
• The song was inspired by church, so Black Pumas made sure it has a gospel feel, with an organ, hand claps, and mighty background vocals by two female singers: Lauren Cervantes and Angela Miller.
• "Colors" got a lot of attention when it was nominated for the Record Of The Year Grammy in 2020. It didn't win, but Black Pumas got to perform it on the show and earned plaudits from host Trevor Noah, who said: "Ever hear a band for the first time but feel like they've been your favorites your whole life? That's what we feel tonight."
  
  This was the group's second trip to the Grammys: They were nominated for Best New Artist in 2019.