Rihanna Returns to Music With "Lift Me Up" Single After 6-Year Hiatus

Yara Sameh

Barbadian singer Rihanna released first her music in six years on Friday, an emotional tribute to late actor Chadwick Boseman.

"Lift Me Up" is featured on the soundtrack of the upcoming Marvel movie "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever", the highly-anticipated sequel to the Oscar-winning blockbuster “Black Panther”.

The first part was a cultural sensation when it opened in February 2018. It shattered the pernicious Hollywood myth that movies with a predominantly Black cast could not be commercially viable internationally.

The movie was a massive global hit at the box office, earning $700.4 million domestically, the highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, and $1.34 billion worldwide, second only to "Avengers: Infinity War" ($2.04 billion) that year.

Ideas for a sequel began after the release of the first movie. Marvel Studios officially confirmed the sequel's development in mid-2019.

However, plans for the project changed in August 2020 following Boseman's death from colon cancer, with Marvel choosing not to recast his role of T'Challa.

Boseman died in 2020 after a four-year battle with colon cancer that he had kept private. He was 43.

"Blessed to have written this song in honour of Chadwick Boseman and even more blessed to hear the baddest @badgalriri voice it to perfection," Tems, the song's co-writer, wrote on Instagram, referencing Rihanna.

Earlier this week, the 34-year-old Grammy Award winner, who will perform at the Super Bowl halftime show in February, had teased the new track.

Rihanna's fans have been waiting for a follow-up to her 2016 album "Anti", her eighth studio album.

While the singer, born Robyn Fenty, has featured on songs "Lemon" and "Believe it" in recent years, "Lift Me Up" is her first solo release since "Anti".