Rihanna made the most Rihanna entrance at the 2023 Oscars.
The singer was caught on video walking into Los Angeles' Dolby Theater in a gray Eagles T-shirt, Black Vans sneakers, an olive green bucket hat, a matching tote bag, sunglasses and giant gold hoop earrings with a matching chain bracelet.
It's unclear if she will change for the ceremony, or if boyfriend A$AP Rocky will join her.
Tonight, Rihanna will perform her song, "Lift Me Up," from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The track, which is nominated for Best Original Song, earned the singer her first ever nomination. Other nominees include Lady Gaga's "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick, "This Is a Life" from Everything Everywhere All at Once, "Naatu Naatu" from RRR, and "Applause" from Tell It like a Woman.
"Lift Me Up," which also nabbed a Golden Globe nomination, marks the first single that Rihanna has dropped in six years.
Black Panther director Ryan Coogler previously spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about getting Rihanna to end her musical hiatus. He explained that he wanted the film's closing song to not only honor the memory of leading star Chadwick Boseman, who died in 2020, but to also reflect the experience of parenthood.
"It's her experience with loss in there, and her being a mother. She's a new person now. [Parenthood] changes you to your core. I hear it in her voice. It's her, but it's a new her," Coogler told the outlet.
Last month, Rihanna delivered a historic performance for her first Super Bowl Halftime Show, where she subtly announced that she is pregnant with her second child.
"When I first got the call to do it again this year, I was like, 'You sure?' Like, I'm three months postpartum, like, should I be making major decisions like this right now? Like, I might regret this," she said during the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show press conference. "But when you become a mom, there's something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world, you can do anything."
Chelsey Sanchez is an editor at Harper’s Bazaar, where she writes about any and all things related to culture and entertainment. Previously, she has covered pop culture and politics for outlets like The Atlantic, Flaunt, and The Indypendent. She feels very strongly about Jane Austen adaptations.
