oscars 2023

Rihanna Lifts Up the Oscars

Mother. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Rihanna came to the 2023 Oscars with a duty beyond just performing. She’s honoring the late Chadwick Boseman in song. Her Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ballad, “Lift Me Up,†a funereal track saluting Boseman’s inspiring role as the Black Panther, was co-written with Ryan Coogler, Tems, and Ludwig Göransson. Transforming the stage to make it more Wakanda appropriate and performed solemnly, she highlighted her pregnancy with a black jumpsuit bedazzled with fringe. The song was nominated alongside Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand†and the night’s winner, “Naatu Naatu,†from RRR. With the Super Bowl, this marks the second live performance in just a few weeks following a yearslong live performance drought. That’ll lift any Navy’s spirits.

Rihanna Lifts Up the Oscars