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Ryan Gosling Delivers a Star-Studded Performance of ‘I’m Just Ken’ at the 2024 Oscars

Canadians might not have picked up many Oscars this year, but Ryan Gosling led a show-stopping performance during Hollywood's biggest night. The Barbie star brought the Kenergy with help from several costars, including fellow Canadian Simu Liu, and Guns N' Roses' Slash on guitar.

Ryan Gosling performs 'I'm Just Ken' from "Barbie" onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California.

Ryan Gosling performs 'I'm Just Ken' from "Barbie" onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

At the 2024 Oscars, best original song nominees Ryan Gosling, Mark Ronson and a slew of dancers delivered what was no doubt the most high energy — sorry, Kenergy — performance of the night at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles Sunday (March 10).

Wearing a pink, bedazzled suit and a black cowboy hat, Gosling began his performance by sitting in the audience and serenading the apple of Ken’s eye — a blushing Margot Robbie, who played the titular character in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster film. Then, the actor made his way to the stage, where he embraced Mark Ronson — who cowrote the song alongside Andrew Wyatt — playing guitar, and sat on a pink staircase with dozens of fellow cowboy hat-wearing Ken dancers. Among them were Barbie costars Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir, who joined in on intricate group choreography featuring a sea of 1950s Barbie-head cutouts.


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“I’m just Ken/ Where I see love, she sees a friend,” the group sang. “What will it take for her to see the man behind the tan and fight for me?”

During the emotional breakdown of the song, for which none other than Slash of Guns N’ Roses appeared on stage to deliver a heartfelt guitar solo, Gosling — who was also nominated for best supporting actor for his performance in Barbie — once again returned to the audience to hand off the microphone to Robbie, fellow nominee America Ferrera, Gerwig and his La La Land leading lady, Emma Stone.

The satirical ballad was one of five best original song nominees, along with Billie Eilish and Finneas’ fellow Barbie hit “I’m Just Ken,” as well as Becky G‘s “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot, Jon Batiste‘s “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony, and Scott George and the Osage Singers’ “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon. All of the best original song candidates performed their respective tracks live during the ceremony.

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Following Barbie‘s theatrical release in July, “I’m Just Ken” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 87 — making Gosling a charting artist on the ranking for the first time. In the film, the high-energy, multi-set number finds the Notebook actor singing his heart out about his “blond fragility” alongside Liu and dozens of other Kens.

This article originally appeared in Billboard U.S.

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Bill Gilliland

Bill Gilliland

FYI

Obituaries: Toronto Record Label Pioneer Bill Gilliland, Global Music Trailblazer Dan Storper of Putumayo

This week we also acknowledge the passing of Sugar Hill Records owner Barry Poss, and top U.S. booking agent Dave Shapiro and former drummer Daniel Williams, who both died in a tragic plane crash.

Bill (William) Gilliland, a Toronto record label head, producer and music entrepreneur, died on May 17, at age 88.

An official death notice called him "a visionary force in Canadian music. A true architect of the country’s music landscape, Bill’s career spanned more than four decades, shaping the sounds of generations and launching the careers of many iconic artists."

Gilliland first made a mark with Arc Records, a subsidiary of Arc Sound Company Ltd. that was established in Toronto in 1958 by Philip G. Anderson. Gilliland and Anderson co-founded Arc Records in 1959 and purchased the Precision Pressing Co. in 1961. Under the direction of Anderson, its president, and vice president Gilliland, Arc Records entered into a contract with US Hit Records and released a series of pop singles albums under the name Hit Parade (1963–64) that specialized in regional artists and tribute albums.

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