Rihanna just came out of hiatus with her first performance in seven years, and now she’ll be returning to the stage not too long after for the 95th Academy Awards.
Variety reports the superstar singer will perform her Oscar-nominated song “Lift Me Up” from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack when the 2023 ceremony goes down live on ABC on March 12.
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The song, with music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson and lyrics by Tems and Ryan Coogler, stands as her first Oscar nomination with its nod for Best Original Song.
Rih will make history with the performance, becoming the first Black woman to perform at the Oscars while pregnant. Catherine Zeta-Jones is the only other person to do so – being eight months pregnant when she performed “I Move On” from “Chicago” at the 2003 Oscars with Queen Latifah.
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The performance follows Rihanna’s return to the stage for her Super Bowl LVII performance – where she reportedly earned over $350,000 in song royalties in its aftermath thanks to a massive increase in streaming. “We Found Love” was the biggest earner for Rihanna, bringing in a whopping $60,101 in royalties for the Bajan billionaire after racking up over 15 million streams.
“Umbrella,” “Diamonds,” “Only Girl (In The World),” “Bitch Better Have My Money” followed close behind, racking in $57,655, $49,541, $44,842 and $41,893 respectively.
With “Where Have You Been,” “Work,” “Rude Boy” and “Pour It Up” also seeing huge streaming boosts, Rihanna’s total royalty earnings from these songs alone amounts to $386,857, according to the report.
The big earnings are even more impressive for Rihanna considering she wasn’t even paid to perform at the Super Bowl, which is the norm for halftime show headliners.
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The massive set went down at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona and was comprised of a medley of hits including “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Diamonds,” as well as Kanye West’s “All of the Lights” and JAY-Z’s “Run this Town.”
Rihanna’s fans are really feasting this year, as they’ll also possibly be getting her long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s ANTI as well.
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“I want it to be this year,” she told British Vogue in her new cover story. “Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”
However, the comments were reportedly made before learning she was pregnant again so things could change.
