Rihanna is returning to music with new Black Panther song
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
These diamonds are made of Vibranium.
Rihanna looks set to return to music this Friday with a new song from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. The official Twitter account for the film dropped a teaser that highlights the letter "R" in its logo, seemingly referring to Rihanna, and it ends with Friday's date.
While nothing has been confirmed, there had already been rumors that Rihanna recorded new music for the highly-anticipated Marvel sequel's soundtrack The New York Times' Kyle Buchanan tweeted that he's "been hearing for weeks that Rihanna is recording the end-credits song" for the film, which hits theaters on Nov. 11.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
That would make the song Rihanna's first solo release since 2016, when she debuted her album Anti. But the timing would make sense, considering Rihanna has been confirmed to be performing at the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
It would also give the Black Panther sequel another potentially big song after the original featured "All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA, which was nominated for an Academy Award. The Rihanna song too, could potentially make its way into this year's Best Original Song Oscar category, which may put her in competition with songs from artists like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.
Update 12:38 p.m. ET: Rihanna has confirmed her new single for the Black Panther soundtrack, "Lift Me Up," will be released on Friday. According to Variety, the song was "written as a tribute to the life and legacy of Chadwick Boseman."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
