It’s been nearly four years since Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has performed live. Okay, so she did that Disney singalong Zoom show in 2020 but we’re not counting that. So not since the On The Run Tour and her sensational 2018 Coachella show has our queen publicly taken to the stage. Well, that is until this Sunday’s Oscars ceremony (if rumours are to be believed).
According to NME, Bey is planning to bless us all with a surprise performance of her song “Be Alive”, recorded for the movie King Richard (about the father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams), and nominated for the Best Song Oscar. Planned only earlier this week, the performance will be beamed in from a tennis court in Compton, California, a key spot in the childhoods of Venus and Serena, according to reports. Will Smith, who is up for the Best Actor award for his starring role in the movie, is also said to be making an appearance in the performance, before presumably using Lady Gaga’s teleportation device (sadly our robbed queen won’t be needing it) to get to the ceremony 20 miles away in Hollywood to hopefully pick up his award.
Whether Bey returns to the world of live music or not, we at least have plenty of other musical delights to look forward to (confirmed ones). Billie Eilish will take to the stage to perform “No Time To Die”, just in time to celebrate 60 years of James Bond. Alongside Billie and perhaps Bey, there’s country icon Reba with the song she wrote for addiction drama Four Good Days; Van Morrison with his single for Belfast, and the cast of Encanto to perform the chart-topping, TikTok-viral song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” There will also be an all-star band on the night, which includes Kourtney K’s beau Travis Barker, percussion queen Sheila E and Kendrick Lamar’s go-to pianist Robert Glasper, accompanied by a symphony orchestra.
Although neither spokespeople for the Academy or Beyoncé responded to NME’s requests for comments, for now we’re holding out hope that there’s some truth to the rumour mill. Historically of course, Queen Bey has a history of keeping things quiet until the very last moment, only to then give us a world-stopping, jaw-dropping show. Let’s hope this is one of those times, otherwise we’ll be suffering through all those tearful acceptance speeches for nothing.