The last year was a terrible one for Hollywood deaths, and Sara Bareilles’ captured the scope and pain of the industry’s sadness with her Oscars “In Memoriam” performance of Joni Mitchell’s classic “Both Sides Now.”
The segment included such luminaries as Prince to Gene Wilder to Anton Yelchin. It ended with Debbie Reynolds, who died in December, and her daughter, Carrie Fisher, who died the day before the “Singin’ in the Rain” star.
As Bareilles concluded her stirring, beautifully rendered performance, the “In Memoriam” segment played an excerpt of Fisher in her role in the 2015 “Star Wars” film “The Force Awakens,” in which she revisted her role as Princess Leia for the first time in three decades.
“May the Force be with you,” Fisher said, paying a very Hollywood tribute to the names of everyone whose names had come before hers.
The “In Memoriam” segment carried an especially heavy weight this year, because of the many high-profile people who died in 2016 — some of them much too soon. David Bowie’s death was the first of the year to draw widespread mourning, and was soon followed by many more. (Bowie was included in last year’s “In Memoriam” segment.)
On the day of the ceremony, another death was announced: “Titanic” star Bill Paxton, star of CBS’s “Training Day” revival, died on Saturday.
Watch Bareilles’ performance, above.