Rihanna delivers breathtaking performance of "Lift Me Up" at 2023 Oscars

Jon Powell
·2 min read
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Rihanna
Rihanna
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Tonight (March 12), the world tuned into the 2023 Oscars ceremony. During the broadcast, Rihanna took to the stage to perform her hit single “Lift Me Up,” the theme song for the blockbuster movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In addition to “Lift Me Up” receiving a nomination for Best Original Song, the film scored nods for Best Supporting Actress (Angela Bassett), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Camille Friend and Joel Harlow), Best Costume Design (Ruth Carter), and Best Visual Effects (Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White, and Dan Sudick).

Following a powerful introduction from Black Panther actress Danai Gurira, a pregnant Rihanna took to the stage to deliver the song’s lyrics with an orchestra providing support.

“Burning in a hopeless dream, hold me when you go to sleep, keep me in the warmth of your love, when you depart, keep me… safe and sound,” the Barbadian star sang.

“Lift Me Up” arrived six years after Rihanna‘s eighth studio LP, Anti, a 13-song effort of 13 cuts with a couple of assists from Drake and SZA. Since then, she appeared on songs like DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts,” N.E.R.D.’s “Lemon,” and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s “Believe It.” The icon went on to turn much of her focus to her billion-dollar Fenty empire and — more recently — her growing family alongside A$AP Rocky.

Back in February, Super Bowl LVII became the stage for Rihanna’s comeback performance, where she blessed everyone with live renditions of hits like “Work,” “Rude Boy,” “Pour It Up,” and “Umbrella.” As previously reported by REVOLT, her growing family was featured on the cover of British Vogue‘s latest issue, where she explained her decision to end her NFL boycott.

“There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes, but it’s powerful to break those doors and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level,” she said.

Check out Rihanna’s Oscars performance of “Lift Me Up,” along with a few Twitter reactions, below.

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