Rihanna to perform ‘Lift Me Up’ during 2023 Oscars

Fresh from her halftime performance at the Super Bowl nearly two weeks ago, Rihanna will perform the Oscar-nominated song “Lift Me Up” at the 95th Academy Awards ceremony.

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Rihanna, who turned 35 on Monday, will perform the ballad from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” during the March 12 Oscars show, executive producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner announced. It is the first time the singer has been nominated for an Academy Award, Variety reported.

“Lift Me Up” was co-written by Rihanna, Tems, Ludwig Göransson and the film’s director, Ryan Coogler, CNN reported. The ballad is nominated for best original song at this year’s Oscars, marking Rihanna’s first-ever Academy Award nomination.

“Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and BloodPop, which was written for “Top Gun: Maverick,” is also nominated in the best original song category, the cable news outlet reported. Other nominees include Diane Warren for “Tell It Like a Woman,” “M.M. Keeravaani’s “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” and “This is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” The Associated Press reported.

Rihanna’s 13-minute set during halftime of Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 came seven years after the release of the singer’s most recent album, “Anti.” Rihanna, 34, wore a baggy red jumpsuit, fueling speculation on social media that she might be pregnant again.

An hour after her performance, a representative for Rihanna confirmed that the singer was pregnant with her second child.

Rihanna has a 9-month-old son with rapper A$AP Rocky, according to the AP.

According to Variety, Catherine Zeta-Jones is the only other celebrity to perform a musical number at the Academy Awards while pregnant. Zeta-Jones was eight months pregnant when she sang “I Move On” from “Chicago” with Queen Latifah at the 2003 Academy Awards show.

Zeta-Jones won the Oscar for best supporting actress that year and gave birth to her daughter Carys a few weeks later, the entertainment news website reported.

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Super Bowl LVII halftime: Rihanna takes the stage for the halftime show at Super Bowl LVII. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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Through the years Roc-A-Fella recording artist Rihanna performs at the Teen People Listening Lounge hosted by Jay - Z at the Key Club on July 14, 2005 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

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