LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Lady Gaga and Rihanna earned Oscar nominations Tuesday in a best original song category that found Taylor Swift left out.
Gaga was nominated for 鈥淗old My Hand鈥� from 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� while Rihanna became a first-time nominee through 鈥淟ift Me Up,鈥� a song from 鈥淏lack Panther: Wakanda Forever.鈥� The music superstars will compete at the in March.
Swift鈥檚 鈥淐arolina鈥� from 鈥淲here the Crawdads Sing鈥� in the category. The song was considered an Oscar hopeful after receiving nominations for other awards including the Golden Globes.
Gaga co-wrote the 鈥淭op Gun鈥� song with BloodPop, the uber-talented producer-songwriter who has created songs for several big names including Madonna, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber. It鈥檚 the fourth nomination for Gaga, who won an Oscar in 2019 for 鈥淪hallow鈥� with Bradley Cooper.
Rihanna made her long-waited return to music with a major splash on the ballad 鈥淟ift Me Up," which was written as a tribute to the late 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� star Chadwick Boseman, who died from cancer in 2020. She created the song with Tems, the film鈥檚 director Ryan Coogler and composer Ludwig G枚ransson, who took home an Oscar four years ago for his work on the first 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� film.
鈥淭his song touched a lot of people,鈥� G枚ransson said. 鈥淭hat's one of the beautiful things you can do when you write music. There are times when music has a life outside of the film. It lives on. It's beautiful to see how it connects with people."
Diane Warren received her 14th Oscar nomination through her song 鈥淎pplause鈥� from 鈥淭ell It Like a Woman.鈥� The prolific songwriter was recognized with an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards last year.
鈥淚t's amazing to be appreciated by my peers again,鈥� said Warren, who stayed up all night at a pizza party with friends while waiting for nominations, just as she did last year. 鈥淚 never take the nominations for granted.鈥�
Other best original song nominees are M.M. Keeravaani鈥檚 鈥淣aatu Naatu鈥� from 鈥淩RR,鈥� which was written by Chandrabose, and 鈥淭his is a Life鈥� from 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once.鈥� The latter track was created by Mitski, David Byrne and Ryan Lott, who along with his band Son Lux was also nominated for best original score.
鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 on top of the world. This is the best feeling,鈥� said Keeravaani, who added that he wasn鈥檛 surprised with the nomination because he was 鈥渧ery confident in his work.鈥�
Keeravaani said he hopes his nomination through the Oscars' platform can highlight other artists from India.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important so that more and more music and talented artists from my country can have a chance to get this kind of recognition, so that the world embraces India music more than ever,鈥� he said.
Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press
