Buddy Guy took to Hollywood’s biggest stage Sunday night with a star-studded lineup to bring a pivotal scene about the power of music in “Sinners” to life.
Guy wore a black and white polka dot shirt under black leather overalls as he played the guitar alongside Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq, who wrote the song with composer Ludwig Göransson.
Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith were also part of the performance, which faithfully recreated the scene at the juke joint when Sammie Moore, portrayed by Caton, conjures up the spirits of musicians from past and present, including African tribal dancers, a DJ and break dancers, while singing and playing the guitar during “I Lied To You,” a song about his love of the blues.
Guy has a brief but significant cameo as the older Sammie in the movie. The legendary Chicago blues musician’s impact on the genre is one of the reasons “Sinners” writer and director Ryan Coogler wanted Guy in his film, and the writer and director personally visited Buddy Guy’s Legends to ask him to be a part of it.
The movie garnered a record-breaking 16 nominations, including acting nods for Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo as well as best picture, best original screenplay and best original score.
The producers behind the 98th Academy Awards set out to celebrate not just the song but the cultural phenomenon of the film itself. “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters,” which won best animated film, was the other nominee for best original song scheduled to be performed live.
“We have two really unique stories that are going to be celebrated on the stage,” Oscars executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor said ahead of the broadcast. “They’re bigger than just the songs. They’re really about filmmaking and craft.”
Contributing: AP