We warned Rihanna not to lift nothin up at this year’s Super Bowl but we can’t say the same for the Oscars.
According to VanityFair, the pregnant star will perform live at the 2023 Oscars, the show’s producers announced today.
Rihanna, who became a first-time Oscar nominee this year, will sing her nominated original song “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever when the 95th Academy Awards air on Sunday, March 12.
The track was written by RiRi, Nigerian singer Tems, composer Ludwig Göransson, and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler.
Dedicated to Chadwick Boseman, the Black Panther star who died of cancer in August 2020, it is also the Grammy winner’s first solo single since 2016’s “Love on the Brain.”
“After speaking with Ryan and hearing his direction for the film and the song, I wanted to write something that portrays a warm embrace from all the people that I’ve lost in my life,” Tems said in a statement about the song’s release.
“I tried to imagine what it would feel like if I could sing to them now and express how much I miss them.” She added that Rihanna has been an “inspiration” to her.
The nine-time Grammy winner, who attended the 2023 Golden Globes earlier this year in honor of her song’s nomination, is perhaps the buzziest nominee in a starry and competitive race.
Other nominees for the best original song include Lady Gaga & BloodPop for “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick, M.M. Keeravaani & Chandrabose for “Naatu Naatu” from RRR, Diane Warren for “Applause,” from Tell It Like a Woman, and Ryan Lott, David Byrne & Mitski for “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once.
After devoting most of her creative energy in recent years to Fenty Beauty and various fashion lines, Rihanna and her partner A$AP Rocky have confirmed that she’s once again making new music.
“There’s this pressure that I put on myself,” she told British Vogue of putting out a ninth album. “That if it’s not better than [2016 album Anti] then it is not even worth it.
It’s not the right way to look at music because music is an outlet and a space to create, and you can create whatever.” Rihanna added, “I want it to be this year. Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year.
But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”