- Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed "Shallow" from A Star Is Born live together at the 2019 Oscars.
- The song is nominated for Original Song. The film has already won similar awards at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes.
- Cooper previously said he was "terrified" of performing with the singer at the ceremony.
It finally happened. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed "Shallow," their power ballad duet from A Star Is Born, live at the Oscars. The duo began the set from getting up from their seats in the front row and approaching the stage hand-in-hand.
Cooper kicked off the song with his first verse, and Gaga followed while playing the piano. At the end of the set, the actor-director joined her on the piano bench as they belted out their final notes.
They received a standing ovation from the audience.
Although their performance was epic, Cooper was nervous to take the stage with his multi-time Grammy winner costar. He told E! News, "I'm sure I'll be terrified," and told Extra, "I was like, 'Why? I must have some sort of death wish!'"
Cooper also previously teased that he would be performing the song as himself, and not as his onscreen rockstar persona from ASIB, Jackson Maine. "Oh, Jackson's gone," the actor said on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, revealing that he retired the deep, twangy voice he adopted for the character.
Despite his stage fright, Cooper had actually graced the stage with Gaga to perform "Shallow" last month for her Las Vegas residency. The actor told E! of that performance, "That was terrifying. I just had to like, zen out and just pray that I wasn't gonna ruin her show. Because think about it, she just crushed it for two hours and I thought, 'Please, let me just be on pitch.'"
This isn't Gaga's first time performing at the Oscars. In 2016, she sang "Till It Happens to You" in a powerful set with sexual assault survivors and the year prior, she gave a chilling The Sound of Music tribute and showed off her vocal chops.
This post has been updated.
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now.
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