For “Black Panther” film |
Rihanna releases first song in six years
The rest period is over.
Music megastar Rihanna (34) is back in business. After being selected as the artist for the next Super Bowl halftime show in September, the Barbados national hero announced her first single in six years on Wednesday.
On Instagram, she posted a first sound snippet of “Lift Me Up,” which will be the theme song in the new Marvel movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. While the strip won’t hit theaters until November 9th, the new track will be released on Friday.
Rihanna co-wrote the song with Nigerian singer Tems, Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson and US director Ryan Coogler. It is dedicated to Chadwick Boseman († 43), who died of cancer in 2020 and played the leading role in the first “Black Panther” film.
His role was not recast for the successor. The supporting characters played by stars like Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright or Martin Freeman will move more into the center.
In 2020, there had been speculation as to whether Rihanna herself might appear in the film. The singer had recently demonstrated her acting skills in “Oceans 8” and “Guava Island”.
If that’s the case, Marvel Studios, which always tries to keep secrets, will certainly not announce it before the premiere. But with the release of the title song, a lot of attention is already guaranteed.
The Instagram video was viewed more than 25 million times in the first seven hours. Chart success should therefore be as good as certain for Rihanna. The title song from the first film, “All The Stars,” is not only one of Kendrick Lamar’s best-selling songs, it also earned the rapper an Oscar nomination.
How far do you think Rihanna will go?