Beyoncé Just Scored Her First Oscar Nomination

Beyoncé Knowles is an Oscar nominee! Finally. While we were pretty certain Lemonade won Best Picture, upon further research, we’ve discovered that’s “not at all how anything works,” and this is her first nomination. No, she didn’t get recognized for “Listen” from Dreamgirls, or for “Spirit” from The Lion King. We are surprised too.

The Grammy winner is being honored for her song “Be Alive” from the movie King Richard, starring Will Smith as the tough but loving father-coach of Venus and Serena Williams. More like “Bey Alive,” right? King Richard, more like Queen Bey, right? Tennis, more like…singing? Sorry, there’s a lot of Oscar news happening, we’re tired. Let’s listen to the song:

Knowles shares the nomination with Dixson, who co-wrote the song.

Now, obviously we are rooting for Beyoncé in everything always, but if one of the other songs takes home the gold, it’ll be understandable because this category is stacked. “Be Alive” is up against “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto by Lin-Manuel Miranda; “Down to Joy” from Belfast by Van Morrison; “No Time to Die” from No Time to Die by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell; and “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days by Diane Warren.

It remains to be seen what shape this year’s ceremony will take; last year’s was a pared-down event at Union Station, and no host has been announced for this year…yet. But fingers are extremely crossed that we get live performances of the nominated songs because we really want to see Beyoncé belting on the Academy stage! (Full list of nominees right this way.)

The Oscars will air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET on March 27, 2022. Here’s our guide to streaming the ceremony. In the meantime, it’s not too late to get caught up on the nominated films so you can dominate your awards bracket.