Sheryl Lee Ralph accepts the Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for "Abbott Elementary" at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark Terrill)
Sheryl Lee Ralph was so moved by her Emmy win, she had to respond in song.
Ralph took the Emmy Award for best supporting actress in a comedy series Monday night for her role as a devoutly religious kindergarten teacher on ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.”
It’s the first Emmy and first nomination for the 65-year-old Ralph, who was in tears and had to gather herself after accepting the trophy.
She opened her speech with a powerfully delivered acapella version of the song “Endangered Species” by Dianne Reeves.
“I am an endangered species, but I sing a victim’s song, I am a woman, I am an artist, and I know where my voice belongs,” Ralph belted.
Her win, and reaction, were hugely popular inside the Microsoft Theater.
“We love you!” a man shouted from the rear seats as she arrived on stage. She was interrupted by cheers and multiple standing ovations.
Moments later, Brett Goldstein won his second straight Emmy Award for his role on “Ted Lasso.”
In the second season of the Apple TV+ show, Goldstein’s character Roy Kent went from cranky veteran player to angry television analyst to grouchy assistant coach of the English soccer team at the center of the show, on which he’s also a writer.