Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Lady Gaga is set to make a surprise Oscar appearance on Sunday night to perform “Hold My Hand,” the Oscar-nominated song from “Top Gun: Maverick,” according to multiple insiders who spoke to Variety on condition of anonymity.
The decision appeared to be a last-minute back-and-forth as Gaga reportedly initially skipped the awards show due to requests to film “Joker: Folie à Deux.” Oscars executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss said Gaga won’t be performing for the first time during a creative team press conference on March 8.
“We have a great relationship with Lady Gaga and her camp. She’s in the process of making a movie right now. Here we honor the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie after a lot of going. -feedbacks…I didn’t feel like she could get a performance of the caliber that we’re used to with her and she’s used to. So, she’s not going to perform on the show,” Weiss said.
With Gaga now in the marquee, all of this year’s Best Original Song nominees have been confirmed for Oscar performances, including Rihanna (“Lift Me Up”), Sofia Carson and Diane Warren (“Applause”), Stephanie Hsu, David Byrne and Son Lux (“It’s a Life”) and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava (“Naatu Naatu”).
When she was nominated, Gaga took to social media to share her gratitude. She wrote, “Thank you so much to the Academy for nominating my song ‘Hold My Hand’ for an Oscar this year! Writing this song for the movie ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was a profound and powerful experience that I never ‘ll never forget. So grateful for the magic of music and film. Giving props to her co-writer Bloodpop, she signed, “I’m on set filming now big love for little monsters!”
The Oscars will air live from the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on ABC Sunday night at 5:00 p.m. PT.