Rita Ora will perform “Grateful” at this year’s Academy Awards show. The pop singer announced the good news on social media, “I’m excited to announce @TheAcademy invited me to perform on the #Oscars on Feb 22nd!” The Academy Award show producers, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron released a statement about Ora performing at the Oscars, “The mixture of her incredible voice and glamour makes a perfect combination for our show.” The song was written by Diane Warren for the movie Beyond the Lights. This will mark Warren’s seventh Oscar nomination in the Best Original Song category. The last time the songwriter was nominated for an Academy Award was in 2001, for Faith Hill‘s “There You’ll Be” (Pearl Harbor Soundtrack).
One of the most talked about songs at the Sundance Film Festival is Lady Gaga‘s “Til It Happens To You,” from the documentary The Hunting Ground. Diane Warren and Lady Gaga wrote the song for the film. Warren spoke to Billboard magazine about working with the pop star, “I heard about the film and it just really touched me. She [Lady Gaga] had stuff in her life that she could relate to.” Warren added, “Gaga is one of the most talented artists I have worked with in my life and I’m excited about doing more with her.” “Til It Happens To You” addresses the pain of a survivor of sexual assault. “There are a lot of levels to the song. There’s something very vulnerable about it and something very defiant about it, especially the way Gaga sings it,” Warren told Billboard magazine. “The first verse is vulnerable — ‘You tell me its going to get better?’ –and the second verse comes in and it builds. Really? It gets better? No. You don’t know until it happens to you,” explained Warren. Diane Warren said the song can relate to anything in someone’s life. She notes it can be about missing someone who passes away or the pain of dealing with a breakup. Warren reiterates that “it just takes time, but you’re sitting there dying. It’s just such a universal song.” Another version of “Til It Happens To You” will be released on March 20th.