The War and Treaty will take the stage at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, January 15, 2024. The soul duo, made up of married couple Tanya & Michael Trotter Jr., will perform alongside Charlie Puth during the “In Memoriam” segment at the award show.
The pair are kicking off 2024 with a huge performance, after having an epic 2023. The pair dropped their fourth full-length album Lover’s Game in March 2023. They also featured on breakout country superstar Zach Bryan’s self-titled album, performing the track “Hey Driver.” The couple received two Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best American Roots Song for their track “Blank Page.”
Following their spectacular performance at the CMAs in November, The War and Treaty’s Emmy performance will surely have fans seeking out the 411 on the powerhouse musicians. Learn more about them, below.
The War and Treaty Really Are Married
“His personality drew me in initial and then the sparks started to fly. I knew that I was hooked,” Tanya recalled to NPR about first meeting Michael, when she was a singer going by the name Tanya Blount. The two fell in love and got married in 2014.
However, the pair aren’t exactly sure who first felt the love match! “We met at a festival in Maryland that I used to do for kids where we would give away backpacks around back to school time,” Tanya told People of her now-husband. “He was performing there, and he blew me away.” Michael had a different version in his memory. “Actually, I noticed [Tanya] a long time before that,” he said. “When I first saw her, I said to my parents that she was going to be my wife. I saw her on the big screen back in the ’90s (in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit) and I was like, ‘That is my wife right there.'”
In a separate interview with BlackandMarriedwithKids, Michael gushed, “We started working and hanging out a little bit professionally. Before I knew it, my eyesight started changing towards her. She’s such a beautiful person, a beautiful woman and I was like, ‘wow God, could you really bless me with something like this?”
Michael Thought He Messed Up His Chance With Tanya
“I decided I was going to tell her how I felt,” Michael recalled to BMWK. “We were texting back and forth and she told me I left my sweater at her house and she asked what I was going to leave next? So I told her, ‘my heart’. I tried to have a little Jerry McGuire moment, ‘you had me at hello’, and Tanya hung the phone up. I didn’t hear back from her until the next day around 12:30pm. The whole night I was thinking that I’d just ruined the relationship. But she called me and we went out to dinner and the movies. And we’ve been together since.”
Tanya & Michael Share 4 Kids
The singing duo have a big brood at home to care for when they are not touring. “We are parents of a 9 and 11 year old girl and we have a son we had together in our marriage who is nineteen months, and then we also have a teenage boy,” Tanya had explained back in 2013 to BlackandMarriedwithKids.
They Made History at the CMAs
Not only did they wow the crowd with their rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (But I Like It)” alongside Brothers Osborne at the 56th Annual CMA Awards, but they also made history! “Me and Tanya being the first black husband and wife duo to touch the stage of the CMAs — it’s really something to where we’re like, ‘Wow, if we’re going to work hard, this is the reason why we’re going to do it,” Michael explained to People.
Tanya Helps Michael With His PTSD
When the pair had met, Michael was suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder that had developed while serving in Iraq as a soldier in the U.S. Army’s 6th Infantry Regimen, per People. He still battles it today, but with the help of his loving wife.
“There are days when Tanya and I just look each other in the eyes and say, ‘Are you OK today?” Michael explained to the outlet. “Is today the day that I need to be a little bit more extra with you? Do I need to hold your hand, Mike? Do I need to run some cold water on your fingers? These are things that normal bands don’t have to think about, but these are things that this band thinks about.”