Sources say that Lady Gaga will be performing Top Gun: Maverick song ‘Hold My Hand’ at tonight’s (March 12) 2023 Oscars after all.
Last week, Gaga had yet to confirm whether she will perform her track – nominated for Best Original Song – at Sunday night’s ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles.
So far, four out of five of this year’s Best Original Song Oscar nominees have been confirmed to perform at the ceremony on March 12 including Rihanna (‘Lift Me Up’), Sofia Carson and Diane Warren (‘Applause’), Stephanie Hsu, David Byrne and Son Lux (‘This Is a Life’), and Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava (‘Naatu Naatu’).
Oscars showrunner Glenn Weiss then seemingly confirmed that Gaga would not be performing, citing scheduling conflicts as the singer is currently filming Joker sequel, Joker: Folie À Deux.
He said (via Variety): “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 honouring the movie industry and what it takes to make a movie after a bunch of back and forth…
“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.”
Now, Variety report that sources tell them that Gaga will now be performing the song at the ceremony, with no further details provided.
Top Gun: Maverick has been nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture. “I wanted to say that I wrote the song for the INCREDIBLE movie […] but also for people who feel like they’re not gonna be ok or WE ARE never gonna be ok and that life taught me through hard ties to have faith in humanity when it’s hard to have faith in yourself,” Gaga explained upon the song’s release last year.
“When you feel lonely, sad, removed from the world, far away from yourself and others #holdmyhand One day you may even be strong enough to hold your own.”
Discussing her contribution to the soundtrack previously, Gaga explained: “When I wrote this song for Top Gun: Maverick, I didn’t even realise the multiple layers it spanned across the film’s heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we’ve been living in.”
