MUSIC'S BEST MOMENTS AT THE OSCARS
The 91st annual Academy Awards ceremony featured some exciting performances during the expansive three-hour broadcast, including a standing ovation for Oscar-winning Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
The show opened up with a Dolby Theatre-shaking performance by Queen + Adam Lambert, torching through “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” in celebration of the Best Picture-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody.
👞👞 👏
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) February 25, 2019
👞👞 👏@QueenWillRock + @adamlambert ROCKED this #Oscars opening! pic.twitter.com/2g1QattacB
Rami Malek went on to win the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the film.
Jennifer Hudson turned in a passionate performance singing Diane Warren’s Oscar-nominated song, “I’ll Fight” from the documentary RBG, but didn’t escape some online controversy about it.
Is it just me or does Jennifer Hudson’s mic sound a bit muzzled? Her vocal could be clearer!! #Oscars
— Perez (@ThePerezHilton) February 25, 2019
did Jennifer Hudson miss that note?
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) February 25, 2019
AOTY Grammy Winner Kacey Musgraves—who hit the red carpet in a voluminous pink dress that made headlines— introduced folk duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, who sang their somberly acoustic 'When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings' from the Coen brothers movie The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
And of course, the buzzy moment everyone was waiting for: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s reunion on live television to perform the now Oscar-winning Best Original Song, “Shallow.”
In yet another art-imitates-life, imitating-art bit of staging, their award show duet began with the two seated at their places in the attending audience, then getting up and taking the stage to perform. Bradley’s nervous but solid vocals, paired with Gaga’s unrelenting power in belting out this song, along with their insane chemistry together, resulted in a huge standing ovation at the end.
Following the Oscar win, two of A Star Is Born’s other songs have joined “Shallow” in the Top 5 at iTunes. “Always Remember Us This Way” is #2 behind “Shallow,” while the extended version of “I’ll Never Love Again” is #5.
Queen is faring well, too: “Bohemian Rhapsody is #8, “We Will Rock You” is #16 and “Don’t Stop Me Now” is #19.
At albums, Interscope’s A Star Is Born maintains its hold on #1—the clean version is #7— while Hollywood’s Queen has slots 2-4 with the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack, Greatest Hits and The Platinum Collection.
At Apple Music, A Star Is Born is #12 and The Platinum Collection is #25 overall and #1 among rock albums.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper perform “Shallow” from 'A Star Is Born' at the #Oscars.pic.twitter.com/ouS2xCxDN0
— Lights, Camera, Pod (@LightsCameraPod) February 25, 2019
Accepting her award for Best Original Song, Gaga said of her career and gratitude about it, "This is hard work; I worked hard for a long time. It's not about winning, it's about not giving up. If you have a dream, fight for it."
Lady Gaga's acceptance speech for Original Song was everything. pic.twitter.com/eCmUafPx5Q
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) February 25, 2019
