The 91st Academy Awards have been opened in true style, with iconic rockers Queen helping kick off this year’s ceremony.
Last month, the nominees for the 91st edition of the Academy Awards were released. While many found themselves wondering who would be taking home Best Picture, and which directors, actors, and actresses were set to receive Hollywood’s highest honour, many found themselves looking towards the musical performances.
With two of the year’s biggest films being music-related, fans couldn’t wait to see Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga team up to perform ‘Shallow’ from A Star Is Born. However, some folks wondered whether or not Queen would make an appearance in support of the Bryan Singer and Dexter Fletcher-directed Bohemian Rhapsody.
Based on English rock band Queen, and the life of charismatic frontman Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody has already become the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, while it also took home the awards for Best Drama and Best Actor at the Golden Globes.
Just a few weeks ago, Queen guitarist Brian May took to Twitter to denounce any notion that the band had turned down an opportunity to perform at the awards.
“NOPE! We never turned down playing at the Oscars,” he explained via Instagram. “We’re just happy and proud that Bohemian Rhapsody has received 5 nominations.”
While May noted that the group would “be there in support”, no further information was released about whether the rockers would indeed take to the stage at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. However, for those watching at home, the band’s appearance at the top of the show was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise.
Opening the show, Queen were joined by Adam Lambert for two-song performance which saw them deliver rousing renditions of ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, finishing up in front of a large image of Freddie Mercury.
Of course, the latter song’s title was strangely prophetic, with Bohemian Rhapsody taking home four of the five awards it was nominated for including Best Actor for Rami Malek, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing. Sadly, the Best Picture award ended up going to the Peter Farrelly-directed Green Book.
Malek’s win was actually somewhat predicted by Brian May, who explained back in November that the actor well and truly deserved the award for his portrayal of Mercury.
“He’s incredible,” May explained. “Without doubt he’ll be on the nominations list for an Oscar and well deserved as well.”
“He inhabited Freddie to the point where we even started to think of him as Freddie. Really remarkable.”
In related news, A Star Is Born’s ‘Shallow’ managed to take out the award for Best Original Song, meaning that Elton John’s bet that Mark Ronson would take home an Oscar ended up being made with remarkable foresight.
Check out Queen + Adam Lambert at the 91st Academy Awards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnwKRg1dRPo
