If anyone was worried that Rihanna might go back into hibernation following her record-breaking Super Bowl performance, fret not. The singer has just been confirmed as a performer at this year’s Oscars.
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Rihanna will perform her Black Panther: Wakanda Forever theme “Lift Me Up” – which was notably absent from her half-time set. Her performance was announced by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, executive producers and showrunners of the 95th Oscars.
“Lift Me Up,” co-written with Tems, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Göransson, is nominated for Best Original Song. This marks Rihanna’s first Oscar nomination.
The singer is up against “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman (Diane Warren), “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick (Lady Gaga and BloodPop), “Naatu Naatu” from RRR (M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose) and “This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once (Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski). At the Golden Globes earlier this year, “Lift Me Up” lost to “Naatu Naatu.”
The final round of Oscar voting will take place on March 2-7. Jimmy Kimmel will host this year’s ceremony from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. More talent will be announced in the coming weeks.
“All the Stars” from the first Black Panther film was also Oscar-nominated for Best Original Song four years ago.
In other Rihanna news, the singer recently gave an update on her long-awaited ninth studio album.
“I want it to be this year,” Rihanna told British Vogue. “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.”
The update did come with a caveat though: Rihanna was not aware she was pregnant with her second child when the interview took place, which throws a potential wrench in her release timeline.
She also recently commented on the reason for her extended break from music.
“There’s this pressure that I put on myself,” she revealed. “That if it’s not better than [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. It doesn’t have to even be on any scale. It just has to be something that feels good. It could just be a song that I like. It literally could be that simple.”
(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
