The Sinners Cast Brought the House Down at the 2026 Oscars

The 98th Academy Awards had no shortage of spectacle, but the cast of Sinners might have delivered the single most electric moment of the night. On March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq led a sprawling ensemble through a performance of 'I Lied to You' that left the room visibly shaken — Ryan Coogler included.

The ensemble was stacked. Misty Copeland, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram, Eric Gales, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey, Alice Smith, Jayme Lawson, and Li Jun Li all joined Caton and Saadiq on stage for a rendition that essentially recreated the film's legendary 'Pierce the Veil' / Club Juke sequence. If you've seen Sinners, you know the one — the scene where the history of Black music and dance erupts into a single transcendent moment.

The Oscars staging leaned all the way in. Modern ballet courtesy of Copeland, breakdancing, twerking, Xiqu, Zaouli — the performance was a living, breathing timeline of movement and sound. It was ambitious, dense, and somehow never felt cluttered. Every transition landed.

Written by Saadiq and composer Ludwig Göransson, 'I Lied to You' was nominated for Best Original Song. The track carried serious momentum heading into the ceremony, largely because of the cultural weight Sinners has accumulated since its release — a film built around the celebration and preservation of Black musical heritage. Director Coogler, spotted grinning ear to ear from the audience, clearly understood what the moment meant.

But the Oscar went elsewhere. 'Golden' by HUNTR/X, from KPop Demon Hunters, took home Best Original Song, making history as the first K-pop track to ever win the award. Other nominees in the category included 'Train Dreams' from the film of the same name and 'Sweet Dreams Of Joy' from Viva Verdi! It was a stacked field, and any winner would've been defensible.

“Director Coogler, spotted grinning ear to ear from the audience, clearly understood what the moment meant.”

Still, losing the statue doesn't erase what happened on that stage. Performances like this tend to outlive the trophies. If anything, the Oscars moment only deepens the Sinners soundtrack's shelf life — expect streaming numbers to climb in the days ahead.

With awards season wrapped, all eyes shift to what Coogler, Saadiq, and Göransson do next. If this performance proved anything, it's that this creative circle has no interest in playing it safe.