Lady Gaga dedicated her powerful performance of “Hold My Hand” to the late Tony Scott during the 95th Academy Awards ceremony.
On Sunday (Mar. 12), the pop superstar took to the Dolby Theatre stage in Los Angeles to perform the Oscar-nominated tune, which appears on the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack.
“It’s deeply personal for me,” Gaga explained in the spoken opening of her performance. “We all need each other [and] we need a lot of love to walk through this life. We need heroes sometimes. There’s heroes all around us…. You might find that you can be your own hero, even if you feel broken inside.”
The worldwide phenomenon allowed the tune’s meaning and her vocals to shine during the emotional performance, as she opted to wear jeans and a t-shirt and showcase her natural beauty rather than wear a gown, makeup and jewelry.
Her performance earned a standing ovation from the star-studded audience.
Watch Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” Performance Below
Lady Gaga marks the first artist in history to receive three nominations in the Best Original Song category with the Top Gun tune “Hold My Hand,” following nods for The Hunting Ground’s “Til It Happens To You” and A Star Is Born’s “Shallow.” The chart-topping hitmaker won her first-ever Oscar in 2019 for “Shallow” from A Star Is Born alongside co-writers Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt and Anthony Rossomando.
“Thank you so much to the Academy for nominating my song ‘Hold My Hand’ for an Oscar this year! Writing this song for the film ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was a deep and powerful experience that I will never forget,” Gaga wrote on her Instagram after her nomination for 2023 was revealed. “So grateful for the magic of music and cinema.” Giving props to her co-writer Bloodpop, she signed off with, “I’m on set filming now big love to little monsters!”
“Hold My Hand” is one of six nominations that Top Gun: Maverick received at the 95th Academy Awards.
Lady Gaga First Performed At The Oscars in 2015
The “Bloody Mary” singer made her performance debut at The Oscars in 2015, where she offered a medley of songs from The Sound Of Music to honor the film’s 50th Anniversary. Lady Gaga also performed “Til It Happens To You” in 2016 and “Shallow” in 2019 alongside her duet partner Bradley Cooper.
Ahead of the coveted 2023 awards show, Lady Gaga walked the red carpet in a butt-exposing, sheer black gown. Her look was complimented by a thick diamond collared necklace, red lipstick and smokey eye shadow makeup.
The 95th Academy Awards also featured performances by Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava, Stephanie Hsu, Son Lux and David Byrne, as well as Diane Warren and Sofia Carson.
Hollywood’s Biggest Night also included dozens of celebrities to present at the ceremony, including Riz Ahmed, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Halle Bailey, John Cho, Jessica Chastain, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Cara Delevingne, Harrison Ford, Ariana DeBose, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Andrew Garfield, Kate Hudson, Michael B. Jordan, Dwayne Johnson, Mindy Kaling, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Longoria, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Troy Kotsur, Andie MacDowell, Jonathan Majors, Janelle Monae, Elizabeth Olsen, Melissa McCarthy, Salma Hayek Pinault, Pedro Pascal, Florence Pugh, Zoe Saldaña, John Travolta, Sigourney Weaver, Donnie Yen, and Questlove.
Actor Deepika Padukone also made history as the third Indian actor to present an Oscar during the show.
Kimmel returned for the third time to host The Oscars. He previously hosted the coveted awards show in 2017 and 2018.
Hosted by Kimmel, the 95th Academy Awards aired at 8/7c on ABC.
