Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper kept it so hardcore at the 2019 Oscars with a breathtaking live performance of their hit power ballad “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born.”
The duo, who gives us great sadness to report they are not in love in real life, took the stage together for their much-anticipated duet, the frontrunner to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Cooper and Gaga appeared out of the audience hand-in-hand and dressed in coordinated black outfits at the start of the number. The actor then began the song seated on a stool, while the pop star looked longingly into his eyes.
Gaga then took her seat at the piano, launching into her verse and her majestic crowd-favorite scream.
Ahead of the ceremony, Cooper admitted he was “terrified” to sing live, but, of course, the actor-turned-director crushed it, given that he succeeds at pretty much everything he does, as Stephen Colbert so helpfully pointed out.
Earlier this month, Gaga performed a rousing solo version of the song sans Cooper with a glam-rock twist at the Grammy Awards.
The song, which became the longest-running chart topper of the pop star’s career, has already won her and co-writers Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt a slew of trophies this awards season, with the group taking home a Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice Award, two Grammys and more.
Cooper and Gaga had only performed the song live together once since filming the hit romance, with the actor joining the singer onstage during her Las Vegas residency in January.
Videos of the two finally singing together went viral ― much like the initial performance in the film ― with fans clamoring for them to collaborate again.
“I just had to like, Zen out and just pray that I wouldn’t ruin her show,” Cooper said of his surprise appearance in Las Vegas. “Because, think about it, she just crushed it for two hours ... and I thought, ‘Please let me just be on pitch.’”