Rihanna Earns First Oscar Nomination For ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Original Song

January 24, 2023 by Monique Nicole in Music with 0 Comments

Rihanna

Rihanna Earns First Oscar Nomination For ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Original Song

Congratulations are in order for Rihanna!

The 34-year-old superstar has received her very first Oscar nomination. On Tuesday (Jan.24) the Academy announced that her single, “Lift Me Up,” from ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is up for Best Original Song at this year’s 95th Academy Awards.

The single was also written by Nigerian singer Tems, Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson, and ‘Wakanda Forever’ director Ryan Coogler — who are all nominated for the award alongside Rihanna.

In a previous statement about the record, Tems had this to say:

“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.”

Tems

The song serves as a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman who played King T’Challa in the original “Black Panther.” Sadly, Boseman died in 2020 at the age of 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer.

Chadwick Boseman

Other nominees in the category include Diane Warren’s “Applause” (Tell It Like a Woman), Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” (Top Gun: Maverick), NTR and Ram Charan’s “Naatu Naatu” (RRR), and Son Lux, Mitski and David Byrne’s “This Is a Life” (Everything Everywhere All at Once).

The song has already received accolades including Best Original Song in a Feature Film at the 13th Hollywood Music in Media Awards and Best Song at the 2023 African-American Film Critics Association. It also received a nomination at the Golden Globes.

The release of “Lift Me Up” marked Rihanna’s first single in six years. As previously reported, Rihanna’s last full-length release, ‘Anti’ dropped in 2016. Since then, the new mother has expanded her brand as a successful businesswoman and has become a billionaire thanks to her cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty and lingerie line Savage x Fenty. The ‘Work’ singer is set to headline the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show in February of 2023.