Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Reba McEntire, and Sebastián Yatra will perform at the 94th Academy Awards, but Van Morrison – who’s up for Best Original Song – won’t be. Here’s why.
As is the tradition, the nominees for the Best Original Song will perform or have their songs performed at the 2022 Academy Awards on Mar. 27. Beyoncé will sing her song from King Richard, Billie Eilish, and her brother FINNEAS will perform their theme to No Time To Die. Even Lin-Manuel Miranda will have two of his songs from Ecanto performed during the show. Yet, one of the nominees will not hit the stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood: Van Morrison. The controversial rocker is nominated for “Down To Joy” from the film Belfast, but he won’t perform the song due to a scheduling conflict. ‘
“Van Morrison was invited to perform his nominated song but will not attend the Oscars due to his tour schedule,” the show announced in a press release. “Therefore, ‘Down To Joy’ from Belfast will not be performed on the broadcast.”
(gbinuya/Everett Collection)Van Morrison — a Northern Irish-born singer-songwriter who rose to prominence in the late 1960s and 1970s with songs like “Brown Eye Girl,” “Wild Night,” “Domino,” and “Moondance” – has recently come under fire for his series of anti-COVID-19 lockdown songs. One of the tracks, “Stand and Deliver,” featured vaccine skeptic Eric Clapton, and it compared the COVID-19 measures to slavery. Van also released an album entitled Lates Record Project: Volume 1 in May 2021 that features songs like “The Long Con,” “Big Lie,” “They Own The Media,” “Where Have All The Rebels Gones?” “Stop Bitching, Do Something,” and “Why Are You on Facebook?”
However, whereas Kanye West was pulled from performing at the 2022 Grammys over his endless social media attacks on Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian, Van’s absence at the Oscars is not due to his opinions. It’s merely a case of him having a prior commitment.
Van Morrison in 1994 (JM Enternational/Shutterstock)In addition to the above performances, Reba McIntire will perform “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days. And while Sebastián Yatra will perform the Oscar-nominated “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto, the real hit song from the movie – “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” – will also get a chance to shine (and another opportunity to get stuck in your head.) Beyoncé will reportedly open up the show with a performance of “Be Alive” from a tennis court in Compton, California, according to Variety. The setting is to show where Venus and Serena Williams started their tennis journey under the eye of their father, Richard Williams (the subject of the biopic, King Ricard.)
