Academy Awards: Performances at the Oscars through the years
Bruce Springsteen performs “Streets of Philadelphia” from the film “Philadelphia” at the 66th Academy Awards in March 1994. (Bob Carey / Los Angeles Times)
Here’s a brief look at some of the musical performances on Oscar night through the years, featuring Beyonce, Adele, Celine Dion, Bruce Springsteen, Björk, Robin Williams and more.
Celine Dion belts “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic” at the 70th Academy Awards on March 23, 1998. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)
Singer-songwriter Elliott Smith performs “Miss Misery” from the film “Good Will Hunting” at the 70th Academy Awards on March 23, 1998.
(Susan Sterner / Associated Press)Robin Williams performs “Blame Canada” from “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” at the 72nd Academy Awards on March 26, 2000. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Björk, in her famous swan dress, performs “I’ve Seen It All” from the film “Dancer in the Dark” at the 73rd Academy Awards on March 25, 2001. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Sting and Alison Krauss team up to sing “You Will Be My Ain True Love” from “Cold Mountain,” at the 76th Academy Awards on Feb. 29, 2004. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Dolly Parton performs the song “Travelin’ Thru” from the film “Transamerica” at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Three 6 Mafia performs “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” from the film “Hustle & Flow,” during the 2006 Oscars. From left, Cedric Coleman, Jordan “Juicy J” Houston and Paul “DJ Paul” Beauregard. Actress Taraji P. Henson can be seen in the background. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Celine Dion performs “I Knew I Loved You” during a tribute to Ennio Morricone at the 79th Academy Awards on Feb. 25, 2007. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
Beyoncé, left, Hugh Jackman and Amanda Seyfried perform during the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009 in Hollywood.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)Neil Patrick Harris, center, entertains at the 82nd Academy Awards on March 7, 2010. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Randy Newman onstage at the Oscars on Jan. 16, 2011, performing “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3.”
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Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell, right, present for original score at the Academy Awards in February 2012.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)Esperanza Spalding, front, sings at the Academy Awards in Hollywood in 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Cirque du Soleil performers hover at the 84th Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2012. (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times)
Adele performs the title track of the James Bond film “Skyfall” at the 2013 Oscars. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Channing Tatum lifts fellow dancer Charlize Theron at the 85th Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)Norah Jones sings “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from the film “Ted” at the 2013 Academy Awards show in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Host Seth MacFarlane is front and center in a performance at the 2013 Academy Awards that includes the likes of Daniel Radcliffe, second from right. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is behind MacFarlane to the left.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Kristin Chenoweth and Seth MacFarlane sing the closing song at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013.
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Catherine Zeta-Jones rises above the action at the 85th Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
U2 performs “Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” at the Oscars on March 2, 2014. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Idina Menzel croons “Let It Go” from “Frozen” during the 2014 Oscars, right after presenter John Travolta famously introduced her as “Adele Dazeem.” (John Shearer / Invision/Associated Press)
Pharrell Williams performs “Happy” from the film “Despicable Me 2” at the 2014 Oscars. (John Shearer / Invision/Associated Press)
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Rita Ora performs at the 87th Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Common, foreground left, and John Legend, foreground right, perform at the Oscars on Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
(John Shearer/Invision/Associated Press)
Lady Gaga appears during the telecast of the 87th Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Weeknd performs “Earned It” from “Fifty Shades of Grey” at the 88th Academy Awards on Feb. 28, 2016.
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Sam Smith performs “Writing’s on the Wall” from “Spectre” at the 88th Academy Awards on Feb. 28, 2016.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Lady Gaga performs “Til It Happens to You” from “The Hunting Ground” at the 88th Academy Awards on Feb. 28, 2016.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)