Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga Performs “Hold My Hand” At The Oscars

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Lady Gaga performed a stripped-down version of her song, “Hold My Hand”, at the Oscars. She also explained why the song is important to her. Lady Gaga was on stage the night of March 12, wearing just a black t-shirt and ripped jeans. She performed her song at LA’s Dolby Theater, for the 95th Academy Awards. This is after claiming she wouldn’t be there.

Before she started performing, she talked about the song and why it was important to her. She had spent years working on the song with her friend, BloodPop for Top Gun: Maverick. The song is about how we all need heroes, but we have to be our own heroes sometimes, according to her. “I wrote this song with my friend BloodPop for the film Top Gun: Maverick in my studio basement.” Lady Gaga explains, “It’s deeply personal for me and I think that we all need each other. We need a lot of love to walk through this life and we all need a hero sometimes. There’s heroes all around us in unassuming places, but you might find that you can be your own hero even if you feel broken inside.”

Lady Gaga’s “Hold my Hand”

Lady Gaga produced the song with BloodPop and Benjamin Rice. When she released the music video, it had scenes from both the 1986 original, Top Gun, as well as the 2022 sequel, Top Gun Maverick. There were also scenes of her playing the piano and singing on an airstrip mixed in.

Lady Gaga’s “Hold my Hand” was one of the songs that were nominated this year for Best Original Song. Its competition was Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,  Son Lux, Mitski, and David Byrne’s “This is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Sofia Carson’s “Applause”, as well as the winner, Rahul Sipligunj, Kaala Bhairava, and M.M. Keeravani’s “Naatu Naatu” from RRR. While she did not win the award, Lady Gaga gave a beautiful performance and gave a little more insight into the song and what it means to her. It is always interesting for a songwriter to talk about what they think the song they wrote is about.

Lady Gaga Won’t Perform “Hold My Hand” At Oscars With Other “Best Song” Nominees

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It was supposed to celebrate all tracks acknowledged in the Best Song category, but Lady Gaga will have to miss out. This year’s Oscars are fast approaching and the anticipation is growing. For years, people have complained that the Oscars were losing credibility among younger generations. However, last year’s debacle greatly increased its popularity. It may have been an unfortunate moment for both Will Smith and Chris Rock, but it revigorated interest in the ceremony. Hollywood’s elite will gather together to learn who will be the latest to take home the gold. The musical performances have also been a buzz.

Best Song nominees include Gaga (“Hold My Hand”), Rihanna (“Lift Me Up”); Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava (“Naatu Naatu”); Stephanie Hsu, David Byrne and Son Lux (“This Is a Life”); and Sofia Carson and Diane Warren (“Applause”). All other nominees confirmed their participation, but Variety reported this week that Gaga declined the invitation. Oscars executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss also spoke on the revelation.

Lady Gaga Is Busy With The Joker

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 03: Lady Gaga performs onstage during the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 03, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

“We invited all five nominees. 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.” He further shared, “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.”

Gaga is reportedly in the thick of filming the sequel to Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker franchise. The hitmaker will star alongside Phoenix as Harley Quinn, and it’s a casting that has caused a stir. Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips recently shared the first sneak peek at Gaga’s role. Additionally, the film is slated to hit theaters in October 2024. It’s rumored that the music icon’s approach to the character will be much different than Margot Robbie’s take. According to reports, the Folie à Deux Harley Quinn storyline will focus on the development of her character’s interest in The Joker. It will emphasize her beginnings as a psychiatrist who spirals into mania. We’ll keep you updated as more information about the feature is shared.

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Lady Gaga As Harley Quinn In “Joker: Folie À Deux,” First Look

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Todd Phillips, the director of Joker: Folie à Deux has shared an exclusive look at Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix in the film. Phillips captioned the screen grab from the film “Happy Valentines Day” on Instagram, where Gaga also shared the image. The image depicts Gaga as Harley Quinn, looking intently at Phoneix’s Joker. She cups his face as the pair are clearly in a heavy scene. The Joker is complete with his usual clown-like makeup and green hair. The image doesn’t give much indication of the setting of the scene, but it looks dark and seems to have concrete walls– possibly a basement, based on the location of the window.

According to reports, Gaga is playing the newest version of the iconic character from DC Comics, Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn is a psychiatrist who, while working with the Joker, finds herself falling for him. She abandons the normalcy of her life and profession to corroborate with the Joker on his journey as the villain to Batman. Margot Robbie also played Harley Quinn in the Suicide Squad films. Kaley Cuoco also voiced the character in HBO Max’s animated series Harley Quinn. Gaga confirmed she would be taking the reigns of the character in the Joker sequel last August. The sequel will be a musical.

Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix

In 2019, the original Joker, a film also by Phillips, was met with critical and commercial acclaim. It was the highest-grossing R-rated film in history. It won many awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival. The film was also one of the top nominated films at last year’s Academy Awards, receiving 11 nominations. These nominations included best picture, best director, best-adapted screenplay, and more. Joaquin Phoenix won the academy award for best performance by an actor in a leading role. Additionally, Hildur Guðnadóttir won for best achievement in music written for motion pictures (original score).

Joker‘s dramatic success created conversations about sequels almost instantly. DC media’s landscape has shifted drastically since the film’s original release 4 years ago. However, Philips’ Joker has been mostly untouched by DC Studios, which was formed recently. Its co-chiefs, James Gunn and Peter Safran, seem to know not to mess with what isn’t broken. The sequel to Joker, starring Phonix and Gaga, will not be playing a role in the narrative or continuity of other DC films that are being released. Joker: Folie à Deux will in theaters October 9, 2024– the five year anniversary of the first film’s release.

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Rihanna And Lady Gaga Got Nominations For Best Original Song At The 2023 Oscars

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Today (January 24), the nominees for the 95th Annual Academy Awards were unveiled live, and there were a ton of surprises. For the category of Best Original Song, there were five total nominations.

Most notably, Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever earned Rihanna her first ever nod for an Oscar. The music was done by her, Tems, Ryan Coogler, and Ludwig Goransson.

“It’s her experience with loss in there, and her being a mother. She’s a new person now,” Coogler revealed to Collider about Rihanna’s impact on the song. “I hear it in her voice. It’s her, but it’s a new her.”

Lady Gaga also was a big-name nominee, as her “Hold My Hand” collaboration with Bloodpop from the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack earned the Academy’s attention.

Rounding out the category, Diane Warren’s “Applause” from Tell It Like A Woman; M.M. Keeravaani and Chandrabose’s “Naatu Naatu” from RRR; and Ryan Lott, David Byrne, and Mitski’s “This Is A Life” from Everything Everywhere All At Once were nominated, too.

Just a few weeks ago, “Naatu Naatu” won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, making it the possible frontrunner for the Oscars race as well. Fans in the Academy’s replies also seem intensely happy that the song got a nod.

The Oscars ceremony will be held on March 12 at 8 p.m. ET, where the winners — including for this category — are revealed live.

Continue scrolling for some fan reactions to the 2023 Best Original Song Oscar nominees.

Rihanna, Taylor Swift, And Lady Gaga Lost At The Golden Globes To An Extremely Popular Song You May Not Have Heard Of

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Rihanna Golden Globe Awards 2023
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The 2023 Golden Globe Awards ceremony took place last night (January 10), and while the proceedings are focused on TV and movies, music makes its way into the mix, too. Specifically, there are two music categories: Best Original Score, Motion Picture and Best Original Song, Motion Picture. The former was won by Justin Hurwitz’s work on Babylon.

As for the latter, songs by Taylor Swift (“Carolina” from Where The Crawdads Sing), Rihanna (“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), and Lady Gaga (“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick) were in contention. None of those ended up winning, though. Instead, the Best Original Song award went to Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj’s “Naatu Naatu,” a Telugu-language song from the hit 2022 Indian movie RRR.

While “Naatu Naatu” may not be backed by the star power of a song by Gaga, Rihanna, or Swift (among American/English-speaking audiences, at least), it has achieved massive popularity with over 111 million views on YouTube. That puts it right up there with its competitors: “Hold My Hand” has 138 million views while “Lift Me Up” is at about 92 million and “Carolina” has around 8 million.

Rihanna was in attendance and was a good sport, as she made sure to offer her congratulations to the folks behind RRR.

Meanwhile, RRR was also up for Best Picture, Foreign Language, but that award went to Argentina, 1985.

Find the full list of 2023 Golden Globe winners here and listen to “Naatu Naatu” below.

Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, And Others Represent The Music World With Their 2023 Golden Globes Nominations

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Rihanna Wakanda Forever Premiere 2022
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Rihanna ended her six-year music hiatus in late October with the powerful ballad “Lift Me Up” for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack — and tacked on “Born Again” for good measure. Taylor Swift clocked the biggest first-week tallies since 2015 and monopolized the top 10 of Billboard‘s Hot 100 with Midnights. Lady Gaga won another Grammy with Tony Bennett and set out on her Chromatica Ball tour. And now, the powers that be at the 2023 Golden Globes are supposed to choose between them.

The Best Original Song, Motion Picture category is stacked: “Carolina” by Taylor Swift for Where The Crawdads Sing; “Ciao Papa” by Roeben Katz and Guillermo del Toro for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga and BloodPop for Top Gun: Maverick; “Lift Me Up” by Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, and Tems for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; and “Naatu Naatu” by Kala Bhairava, M. M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj for RRR.

Elsewhere in the nomination field, Selena Gomez is up for Best Actress In A TV Series, Musical Or Comedy for her role in Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building, co-starring alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin for two seasons with a third on the way. The category is rounded out by Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant), Jenna Ortega (Wednesday), and Jean Smart (Hacks).

The films that make up the Best Original Score category are Babylon, The Banshees Of Inisherin, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Fabelmans, and Women Talking.

Other loosely music-related nominations of note are Donald Glover’s (sometimes known as Childish Gambino) for Best Actor In A Television Series, Musical Or Comedy; Austin Butler for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama for his portrayal in Elvis; and four nods for Pam & Tommy, Hulu’s limited series revisiting everything surrounding the 1995 sex tape made by Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee.

The 2023 Golden Globes are scheduled for January 10, 2023 and will broadcast live on NBC with Jerrod Carmichael hosting.