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Ryan Gosling joined by Slash for epic, star-studded 'I'm Just Ken' Oscars performance
Burley Garcia View
Date:2025-04-08 08:40:29
Ryan Gosling just proved he truly is "great at doing stuff."
The actor, 43, on Sunday delivered an epic live performance of the song "I'm Just Ken" from "Barbie" at the Academy Awards, and he wasn't alone. Dressed in a bright pink suit, Gosling was joined on stage by a large group of dancers wearing cowboy hats, as well of several actors who played Kens in Greta Gerwig's film, including Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Ncuti Gatwa.
Gosling began the performance seated in the audience behind a visibly amused Margot Robbie before he progressed to the stage and joined the dancers on a set of bright pink stairs. The dancers carried Gosling around surrounded by cardboard cutouts of a Barbie doll before another special guest joined in: Slash on the guitar.
Gosling eventually returned to the audience, and screens in the auditorium encouraged guests to sing along by displaying the song's lyrics. Gerwig, America Ferrera and Robbie joined him, as did Gosling's "La La Land" co-star Emma Stone.
"I'm Just Ken" was one of two "Barbie" tracks nominated for best original song at the Academy Awards, with the other being Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" In the film, "I'm Just Ken" is a musical number performed in the third act after all of the Kens go to war against one another, a distraction planned by the Barbies, only to end up dancing side by side. Eilish's song ultimately won the original song Oscar shortly after Gosling's performance.
Although every nominee for best original song is traditionally performed live at the Oscars, there had initially been uncertainty about whether Gosling himself would be on stage for "I'm Just Ken." After all, he did not perform "City of Stars" when his "La La Land" song was nominated in 2017, with John Legend doing so instead.
Eilish also performed her "Barbie" song live at Sunday's Oscars. Her brother, Finneas, accompanied her on the piano.
Mark Ronson, co-writer of "I'm JustKen," recently revealed that the beloved song was almost cut from the final film.
"I thought, 'God, I hope we don't ruin it,'" he told The Sunday Times in an interview published Sunday. "At that first screening the song wasn’t working. I panicked. The humor wasn’t translating, and Greta (Gerwig) had to fight. The studio asked her how much she really needed it and she said, ‘With every inch of my body.’ And then there was a big swing."
Is Ryan Gosling a singer?
The "I'm Just Ken" number at the Oscars wasn't Gosling's first experience with live musical performances. The actor has also performed with Zach Shields in the rock duo Dead Man's Bones, which released its first album in 2009. Prior to singing in the Oscar-nominated musical "La La Land" or in "Blue Valentine," Gosling got his start on "The Mickey Mouse Club."
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