Lenny Kravitz to Deliver In Memoriam Performance on 2023 Oscars

Lenny Kravitz will deliver the In Memoriam performance at the 2023 Oscars on Sunday, March 12. The announcement was made by executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney.

The producers will continue to announce talent joining the show leading up to the ceremony. They have already announced performances of four of the five songs nominated for best original song. They have yet to announce Lady Gaga’s performance of “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick.

Kravitz reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over” (1991) and “Again” (2001). He won four consecutive Grammy Awards for best male rock vocal performance from 1998-2001, for “Fly Away,” “American Woman,” “Again” and “Dig In.”  He also appeared in such films as Precious (2009), The Hunger Games (2012), Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013).

A diverse array of performers have handled the In Memoriam performance in the past decade, including Barbra Streisand, who sang her own smash “The Way We Were” in tribute to its composer, Marvin Hamlisch; Bette Midler, who sang her own smash “Wind Beneath My Wings”; Jennifer Hudson, who sang “I Can’t Let Go” from Smash; Dave Grohl, who sang The Beatles’ “Blackbird,” Sara Bareilles, who sang Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now”; Eddie Vedder, who sang Tom Petty’s “Room at the Top”; the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which  performed John Williams “Leaving Home” from Superman; and Billie Eilish & Finneas, who performed The Beatles’ “Yesterday.”

Following the In Memoriam segment on the Oscars, more than 200 filmmakers, artists and executives will be memorialized in an extended photo gallery on A.frame, the Academy’s digital magazine.

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 95th Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday March 12 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show will be held at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.