Lady Gaga Gives Emotional Performance of ‘Hold My Hand’ at the 2023 Oscars

Surprise! Lady Gaga has taken centre stage to perform at the 2023 Oscars. The singer wowed the audience with her scaled-back performance of her Oscar-nominated song, “Hold My Hand” from the film “Top Gun: Maverick”. 

She came out wearing a T-shirt, took all her makeup off, and shared the inspiration behind the song and what it meant to her.

“I wrote this song with my friend Bloodpop for the film ‘Top Gun: Maverick’. In my studio basement. It’s deeply personal for me. I think that we all need each other. We need a lot of love to walk through this life. We all need a hero sometimes,” she said.

“There’s heroes around us in unassuming places. You might find that you can be your own hero, even if you feel broken inside.”

Her voice soared, filling the auditorium with emotion and capturing the hearts of everyone in attendance.

The singer’s performance came as a shock to everyone. On March 12, Variety reported that several sources have confirmed the “Hold My Hand” singer will perform her Oscar-nominated song from “Top Gun: Maverick” at the ceremony.

Lady Gaga’s Performance Came as a Shock

The news comes just a few days after Oscars executive producer and showrunner Glenn Weiss announced that the singer would not be blessing the stage with her vocals. On March 8, Weiss told 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 honoring 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.”

The movie Gaga is currently filming is the highly-anticipated “Joker” sequel, “Joker: Folie à Deux.” It’s still unclear what character the four-time Oscar-nominated star plays in the film installment, but it seems she was able to squeeze in an Oscar performance despite her commitment to the movie. The last time she performed at the show was in 2019 when she sang her Oscar-winning song “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born.”

Per Variety, Lady Gaga’s decision to perform at the Oscars was last minute. Her inclusion now means all five best song nominees will perform, setting the Oscars up for some major musical moments. In addition to the “Shallow” singer, Rihanna is set to deliver a stunning performance of her “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” track “Lift Me Up”.

Related: Oscars 2023: Here’s Your Full List of Winners

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