Lady Gaga Is Reportedly Performing at the Oscars, After All

Over the years, it's become something of an Academy Awards tradition for all of the Best Original Song nominees to take the stage and perform their pieces—and this evening's telecast is no exception. Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Lady Gaga, who is nominated this year for her song "Hold My Hand" from the film Top Gun: Maverick would not be performing, but tonight, it's being reported that she will indeed sing at the Oscars.

Per Variety, "Lady Gaga is expected to make a surprise appearance at the Oscars on Sunday night to perform 'Hold My Hand,' the Oscar-nominated song from Top Gun: Maverick, according to several insiders who spoke to Variety on the condition of anonymity."

Gaga's original decision to opt out of the evening's show was announced late last week when telecast showrunner Glenn Weiss shared that the multi-hyphenate singer and actress would not be taking the stage for tonight's ceremony due to the constraints of her shooting schedule on Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to Joaquin Phoenix's Oscar-winning 2019 turn in Joker.

"We invited all five nominees," Weiss said. "We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp. She is in the middle of shooting a movie right now. Here, we are honoring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie after a bunch of back and forth…It didn’t feel like she can get a performance to the caliber that we’re used to with her and that she is used to. So, she is not going to perform on the show."

The initial news came as a disappointment to some who were hoping to enjoy the star-power of show featuring both Gaga and her fellow superstar nominee Rihanna, who will perform her song "Lift Me Up" from the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, marking her first Academy Award nomination. Fortunately, things appear to have changed.

Also performing tonight are Best Original Song nominees David Byrne, Stephanie Hsu and Son Lux with the song "This Is a Life" from Everything Everywhere All at Once, Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava with "Naatu Naatu" from RRR, and Sofia Carson and Diane Warren with “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman.

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