Rihanna: First Nomination for ‘Black Panther’ Song
The singer joins David Byrne, Lady Gaga, Diane Warren and the team behind “Naatu Naatu” from ‘RRR.’

First-time Oscar nominee Rihanna is among the musicians in the mix for best original song after the 95th Academy Award nominations were announced Tuesday morning.
Rihanna earned her nod for “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Released in November, the song marked Rihanna’s first original composition in many years, and the singer shares songwriting credit with director Ryan Coogler, Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson and Nigerian singer Tems.
RRR‘s “Naatu Naatu” also earned a nomination following its win in this category at both the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards, with the film’s composer M. M. Keeravani sharing songwriting credit with lyricist Chandrabose.
Also a previous Oscar winner back in this year’s race is David Byrne, whose original score for The Last Emperor won him an Oscar in 1988 (which he shared with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su). This year, his Everything Everywhere All at Once song “This Is a Life,” written and performed with the band Son Lux and singer-songwriter Mitski, has earned Byrne a second Oscar nom and a first for his collaborators.