The Oscars are, of course, technically about movies — but music made the (second) biggest statement of the night, thanks to Lady Gaga.
The singer and songwriter sent a message of support to victims of sexual assault everywhere with her stunning performance of “Til It Happens to You.” Amy, a chilling and touching documentary on Amy Winehouse’s rise to fame, won Best Documentary Feature. N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton was noticeably absent from the show — but host Chris Rock was sure to point that out.
Relive the night in music below:
Sam Smith performs “Writing’s On the Wall”
There was nothing wrong with Sam Smith’s performance of the Spectre theme. But there was nothing particularly stunning about it, either — especially by the end of the night, his rendition mostly rings forgettable. (Did anyone else wish it had been Radiohead on the stage instead?)
Snoozy performance or no, though, “Writing’s On the Wall” had the last laugh — the tune, which Smith co-wrote with Jimmy Napes, ended up taking home the award for Best Original Song. Smith dedicated his win to the LGBT community, while also saying that he believed he was the first openly gay man to win an Oscar. Yeah, not so much.
The Weeknd performs “Earned It”
The Weeknd brought a little S&M to the Oscars with his performance of his Fifty Shades of Grey track “Earned It.” There were violinists in sexy black leotards and tights, an aerial acrobat, chandeliers and candles straight out of Christian Grey’s red room. Oh, and The Weeknd was there too.
Essentially, it was a more Oscar-friendly version of his music video for the track.
Dave Grohl peforms “Blackbird” for The Oscars’ In Memoriam
The Foo Fighters frontman may be known for his lively stage presence, but he slowed things down for the show’s In Memoriam portion. Grohl delivered a subdued rendition of The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” giving the spotlight instead to those we’ve lost in the past year. B.B. King, Ben E. King, David Bowie, Alan Rickman and Christopher Lee were among the over 100 names remembered in the montage.
Lady Gaga performs “Til It Happens to You”
Lady Gaga has been vocal about how performing “Til It Happens to You” — the song she co-wrote with Diane Warren for The Hunting Ground is still difficult for her, because it brings back memories of being raped when she was 19.
That showed Sunday night, when Gaga sat at a piano for an arresting performance, accompanied by a crowd that stood next to her with words like “survivor” written on their wrists. Seeing Gaga sing “Til it happens to you/ You don’t know,” it seemed like the artist was channeling her own pain. It was so powerful that it was easy to forget that the vice president of the United States had just taken the stage to introduce her.
