Publications
Partners
The 2023 Oscar nominations are in – and popstar Rihanna has earned her first Academy Award nod.
Her ballad, Lift Me Up, has been nominated in the Best Original Song category.
The hit song, which features on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack, broke multiple records in its first week of release in October 2022 and was written to honour the life and legacy of actor Chadwick Boseman, who played T'Challa in Black Panther.
Chadwick died after a secret battle with colon cancer in 2020 at the age of 43.
Lift Me Up was the first song she released in six years and she's on a roll now.
The Grammy-winning singer, who welcomed a son with rapper A$AP Rocky in May last year, will headline the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show, which has drawn some of the biggest names in music – not to mention millions of eyeballs all around the world.
Her son, she says, inspired her to perform at the Super Bowl.
“I feel like it was now or never. There’s this weird s*** that happens when you become a mom, you unleash or unlock other parts of your superpower,” she says.
“You feel like you can take on or do anything. I wanted to take on the challenge. I wanted to do something that would force me to get back on stage.”
Though the 34-year-old pop star hasn't revealed her son's name, she has opened up about her motherhood journey.
“It is crazy. It is amazing. It’s wild. It’s weird. It’s all those things, all at once. The best feeling and the most love I’ve ever known.”
The Barbados beauty and her boyfriend are adjusting well to parenting.
“It’s so unexplainable. I’m a member of our club now – the dad club. You see a dad, you see me,” A$AP says.
“I can’t even explain it, man, you come home to heaven every day. I’m so thankful, God is good.”
The rapper has been holding down the fort while Rihanna prepares for her Super Bowl performance on Sunday 12 February.
“This is huge, it’s incredible. I'm glad that my lady is back making music again and getting back out there. Being the creative she is, I know she is going to bring it. I’m excited,” he says.
Even though she's lit up stages all around the world, Rihanna admits she has butterflies about the performance.
“I can’t believe I even said yes. It was one of those things that even when I announced it, I was like, ‘Okay, I can’t take it back now, it’s final'. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world. It’s an entertainer’s dream to be on a stage like that. Everybody’s watching and they’re rooting for you. I want to get it right."
SOURCES: RATEDRNB.COM, UKSTYLE.COM, PEOPLE.COM, MUSICMAYHEMMAGAZINE.COM, HOLA.COM
