John Travolta took the stage at the 95th Academy Awards to pay tribute to those who have died in the past year, including a star who was very close to his heart.
Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis won Best Supporting Actress and Actress in a Supporting Role, respectively, for their roles in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once. With the “In Memoriam” part of the night’s festivities, we also pay tribute to the stars we’ve lost in the past year.
John Travolta took the stage to introduce the segment, which featured a special performance by Lenny Kravitz.
But it was clear right away that this would be hard for the 69-year-old, who lost his close friend and co-star in Grease, Olivia Newton-John, in August of last year.
Watch the moment in the video below.
Newton-John and John Travolta had great chemistry together, which was a big part of why Grease became the most successful musical movie of all time at the time. Together, their version of “You’re the One That I Want” went to the top of the singles charts.
John Travolta took a moment to talk about Newton-solo John’s Grease song “Hopelessly Devoted” while talking about the people we’ve lost.
They’ve touched our hearts, they’ve made us smile, and became dear friends, who we will always remain hopelessly devoted to.
And Kravitz’s show at the Academy Awards was a great way to honor those we’ve lost.
The 58-year-old helped honor other well-known people in the industry by singing his 2004 hit “Calling All Angels.” Social media users called the performance “beautiful.”
Lenny Kravitz’ Oscar performance tonight was beautiful! Well done,
praised one user.
Lenny Kravitz has the voice of an angel,
another added.
Lenny Kravitz’ Oscar performance tonight was beautiful! Well done pic.twitter.com/DtPCNgoXAu
— Judy Borg (@judyaborg) March 13, 2023
Lenny Kravitz has the voice of an angel.
— Dylan Park-Pettiford (@dyllyp) March 13, 2023
Some people were a little less subtle about how they felt, but they still complimented the musician.
Only Lenny Kravitz could make dying sound this sexy!
— Lindsay L Miller (@lindsaylmiller) March 13, 2023
During Kravitz’s performance, we saw Angela Lansbury, Ray Liotta, Raquel Welch, the composer Burt Bacharach, and the directors Wolfgang Petersen, Bob Rafelson, and Jean-Luc Godard, among others.
After hearing that Newton-John had died, John Travolta took to social media to honor his late friend and co-star.
John Travolta posted a picture of a young Newton-John to Instagram with the words:
My dearest Olivia, you made all of our lives so much better. Your impact was incredible.
I love you so much. We will see you down the road and we will all be together again. Yours from the first moment I saw you and forever!
Your Danny, your John!
Along with Kravitz’s song, some of the night’s best performances came from Rihanna, who sang “Lift Me Up” as a sad tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, and Lady Gaga, who sang “Hold My Hand” as an emotional tribute to the late Top Gun director Tony Scott.
