At the 98th Academy Awards, Miles Caton delivered one of the evening’s most talked-about musical moments with a live performance of “I Lied to You,” the Oscar-nominated song from Sinners. The track, written by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson, played a key role in the film’s story and arrived on the Oscars stage with an amazing presentation that mirrored the iconic scene in Smoke and Stack’s Juke Joint.
Caton opened the performance alongside Saadiq, whose presence anchored the arrangement as the song built toward its chorus. The stage soon filled with a wide group of artists and performers who helped bring the song’s blues foundation into focus. Legendary guitarist Buddy Guy appeared during the sequence, joined by blues musicians including Bobby Rush, Eric Gales, and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Their presence connected the performance to the musical lineage that inspired the song.
Other contemporary artists added their presence to the set. Brittany Howard, Shaboozey, and Alice Smith joined the musicians on stage, and ballet dancer Misty Copeland also appeared, which was her first return to the stage following her retirement last October.
Several members of the Sinners cast, including Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, and Jack O’Connell, were part of the presentation as well. The ensemble staging reflected the film’s genre-bending approach and its mix of musical traditions. With Sinners leading the night with a record 16 nominations, Caton’s performance served as one of the ceremony’s highlights at the Academy Awards.
