St. Vincent, Chris Thile, Moses Sumney To Join Sufjan Stevens For Oscars Performance

– Sufjan Stevens
CALL HIM BY HIS NAME: Sufjan Stevens, who will perform his Oscar nominated best original song “Mystery of Love,” pictured at 2016 Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco.

Although clearly focusing on Hollywood’s brightest stars, the Oscars have a history of musical moments, with A.R. Rahman going on tour after “Slumdog Millionaire” swept many of the awards, and Adele performing the “Skyfall” theme for the first time. 

It remains to be seen if 2018 will be so memorable, but Sufjan Stevens is one to watch, as the multi-instrumentalist songwriter has enlisted backup from the dynamic St. Vincent, Nickel Creek alum and mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, as well as alt-soul singer Moses Sumney.  Stevens, always a critics darling with the highly acclaimed Carrie & Lowell releiased in 2015 and collaborative Planetarium in 2017, will perform “Mystery of Love” from the film “Call Me By Your Name.” 

Although those nominated for Best Original Song are usually given just two or three minutes to perform during the jam-packed ceremony, Stevens appears set to make the most of it.

St. Vincent, real name Annie Clark, started in Stevens’ band in 2006 before her solo career started to pick up steam, and Sumney opened on Stevens’ 2015 tour. 

St. Vincent, who just released the bombastic Masseduction in October, kicked off the U.S. leg of her “Fear The Future” tour in November, with recent dates reported to Pollstar including 4,474 tickets at Bill Graham Civic in San Francisco Jan. 22, which grossed $210,094, as well as a sold-out Chicago Theatre Jan. 12, with 3,428 tickets and $132,000 grossed. Previous reports include Nov. 30 at House of Blues Boston (2,425, $76,525), Nov. 27 at Anthem in Washington D.C. (4,014, $186,812), and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville Nov. 22, where she sold 1,840 tickets and grossed $74,604. 

She’s also booked for Coachella in April. 

Sumney in 2017 played clubs in the U.S and overseas as well as festivals inckulde St. Jerome’s Laneway in Australia, Sasquatch in Washington and others, with boxoffice reports including a headline show at The Parish in Austin, which sold 367 tickets and grossed just north of $6,000 Oct. 18, and Icehouse in Minneapolis which sold out 201 tickets and grossed $3,216 Oct. 3. 

He also opened for James Blake in 2016. 

This year’s 90th annual ceremony, taking place March 4 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater, will feature performances of all five nominated songs by the artists who performed them in the films: Keala Settle singing the Golden Globe winner “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Sufjan Stevens doing “Mystery of Love” from “Call Me By Your Name,” Mary J. Blige performing “Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Miguel and Natalia Lafourcade dueting on “Remember Me” from “Coco,” and Common and Andra Day performing “Stand for Something” from “Marshall.”