Rihanna Will Perform at the Academy Awards

Following her history-making Super Bowl performance, Rihanna will now lift up the 2023 Oscars.

The Grammy-winning singer is confirmed to perform “Lift Me Up” from Academy Award-nominated film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” during the 95th Oscars ceremony. The live broadcast will take place March 12 on ABC.

Oscars executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner announced Rihanna’s slated performance during the ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. More talent will be announced in coming weeks leading up to the annual awards show.

“Lift Me Up” features music by Tems, Rihanna, “Wakanda Forever” writer-director Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson, with lyric by Tems and Coogler. The ballad is nominated for Original Song, marking Rihanna’s first Academy Award nomination. A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Rihanna has eight multi-platinum albums and has 14 singles that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” co-songwriter Tems said in a 2022 press statement, “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. I tried to imagine what it would feel like if I could sing to them now and express how much I miss them. Rihanna has been an inspiration to me so hearing her convey this song is a great honor.”

Rihanna’s last full-length release “Anti” came out in 2016. Since the release, Rihanna has focused on her Fenty empire and became a certified billionaire mogul. The “Take a Bow” singer performed while pregnant with her second child during Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona on February 12, one month exactly to the day before the Academy Awards.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Angela Bassett. IndieWire’s awards editor Marcus Jones predicted that “The Banshees of Inisherin” BAFTA winner Kerry Condon and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” breakout star Stephanie Hsu are among the frontrunners for the category alongside Bassett.

The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

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