Rihanna returned for her second live performance in as many months with Sunday night’s Oscars, performing her Oscar-nominated song “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” for the crowd at L.A.’s Dolby Theatre. And, as expected, she brought the house down (but the stage, up).
The song created for the film, which honors the franchise’s late star Chadwick Boseman, was nominated in the Best Original Song category. It was the final nominee performance of the night before the award was handed out. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up taking home the Oscar itself (it went to “RRR’s” “Naatu Naatu,” the first song from an Indian film to win the award), but Rihanna fans absolutely still won with the performance.
Similar to her Super Bowl performance, the stage holding Rihanna eventually ended up quite literally lifting her up as she performed. You can watch the moment in the video below.
Of course, to fully set the mood for the performance, the stage needed to transform a bit, to evoke the feel of the fictional world it was created for.
So, while that was happening, host Jimmy Kimmel took “fan” questions to some of the famous stars in attendance. It was a short-lived bit — one that many assumed was setting up for Rihanna’s performance anyway, because naturally, a Rihanna performance is always an incredible production.
Unsurprisingly, Rihanna’s emotional rendition of the song drew a standing ovation from the crowd, which included the pop star’s partner, ASAP Rocky. Looking on at the mother of his child — soon-to-be children, as Rihanna surprised the Super Bowl crowd by appearing on stage pregnant once more — he raised a glass to the singer.
You can watch the full performance in the video above.
