The Academy Can't Get Kendrick Lamar & SZA To Perform "All The Stars"

Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty

SZA & Kendrick Lamar Won’t Be Performing Oscar-Nominated “All The Stars”

According to an exclusive report from Variety, Kendrick Lamar and SZA won’t be performing at The Oscars this year.

Despite efforts from The Academy to secure the TDE labelmates for a performance of the their Oscar-nominated collaboration, “All the Stars” on the upcoming Oscars telecast. The reason for the two not performing their track from Black Panther Soundtrack, according to a source close to the situation, is both logistics and timing.

Lamar was also noticeably absent from Grammys this year, after reports that he declined performing for that broadcast, as well.

All four of the other nominated songs–“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Gillian Welch and David Rowlings), “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” (Bette Midler and Marc Shaiman), “I’ll Fight” from “RBG” (Jennifer Hudson) and “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” (Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper)–will be performed.

A previous plan for The Oscars was reportedly to showcase only “All the Stars” and “Shallow,” but that was quickly changed in the face of backlash and nominee solidarity, also following a report from Variety about that plan.

“All the Stars” was nominated for four Grammys this year, including nods for both record of the year and song of the year. “King’s Dead,” another one from the Black Panther Soundtrack, earned Kendrick Lamar and his partner Jay Rock a Grammy for best rap performance, while Ludwig Göransson’s original score won a Grammy for best score soundtrack for visual media.

Even though their lack of performance has been confirmed, there’s still no word on whether or not Kendrick Lamar and/or SZA will be in attendance at the Oscars ceremony.