--- title: Why Bradley Cooper Is Singing As Himself at the 2019 Oscars description: Bradley Cooper apparently will not be singing in the voice of his A Star Is Born character when he performs "Shallow" at the 2019 Oscars. canonical: https://time.com/5533614/bradley-cooper-oscars-2019/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-20T20:23:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:57:34.180Z og:title: Why Bradley Cooper Is Singing As Himself at the 2019 Oscars og:description: Apparently it's hard keeping it so hardcore og:url: https://time.com/5533614/bradley-cooper-oscars-2019/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt703aa79ea6a5b632/69893939656a3fcd24bd55d4/a-star-is-born-lady-gaga-bradley-cooper.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A STAR IS BORN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Bradley Cooper Is Singing As Himself at the 2019 Oscars twitter:description: Apparently it's hard keeping it so hardcore twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt703aa79ea6a5b632/69893939656a3fcd24bd55d4/a-star-is-born-lady-gaga-bradley-cooper.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Bradley Cooper Is Performing As Himself at the 2019 Oscars  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 20, 2019 8:23 PM UTC  Clay Enos—Warner Bros.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Feb 20, 2019 8:23 PM UTC Although Bradley Cooper is set to perform [“Shallow”](http://time.com/5514182/lady-gaga-bradley-cooper-shallow-a-star-is-born/) with [Lady Gaga](http://money.com/money/5509693/lady-gaga-net-worth-2019-oscars/) at the [91st Academy Awards](http://time.com/5517545/everything-to-know-2019-oscars/), he apparently will not be singing the hit [_A Star Is Born_](http://time.com/5382763/a-star-is-born-review/) song in the voice of his character, Jackson Maine. During a February appearance on the _The Late Show_, Cooper — who is nominated for Best Actor —told Stephen Colbert that he has officially retired the gravelly tones of his onscreen rocker persona. “As was revealed when I went up on stage in Vegas, I had to create a character. Because that guy certainly isn’t a rock star,” he explained, referencing his recent [surprise performance at Gaga’s Las Vegas residency show](http://time.com/5514182/lady-gaga-bradley-cooper-shallow-a-star-is-born/). “I watched the video back…I just look like this sort of idiot from Philadelphia who’s singing with Lady Gaga…But I was like, ‘Oh, Jackson’s gone.'” Cooper went on to confirm that he has no plans of reviving his portrayal of Jackson at the 2019 Oscars. “He’s gone. I’m not gonna try to get him back. But I will be me singing,” he said. “I hope to be present and enjoy it. And hopefully people love the song sung that night.” Cooper and Gaga’s performance of “Shallow” is not without precedent. In fact, it follows in the Oscars ambitious instances of staging full movie scenes during the ceremony, like Madonna’s 1991 rendition of “Sooner or Later” as the femme fatale Breathless Mahoney from _Dick Tracy_ and _Beauty and the Beast_ star Jerry Orbach’s 1992 “Be Our Guest” spectacle. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5533614/bradley-cooper-oscars-2019/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5533614/bradley-cooper-oscars-2019/"},"headline":"Why Bradley Cooper Is Performing As Himself at the 2019 Oscars","datePublished":"2019-02-20T20:23:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:57:34.180Z","description":"Apparently it's hard keeping it so hardcore","url":"https://time.com/5533614/bradley-cooper-oscars-2019/","keywords":["Newsfeed","awards","bradley cooper","onetime","oscars 2019"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt703aa79ea6a5b632/69893939656a3fcd24bd55d4/a-star-is-born-lady-gaga-bradley-cooper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt703aa79ea6a5b632/69893939656a3fcd24bd55d4/a-star-is-born-lady-gaga-bradley-cooper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A STAR IS BORN","caption":"Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in 'A Star is Born'","creditText":"Clay Enos—Warner Bros.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5533614/bradley-cooper-oscars-2019/","name":"Why Bradley Cooper Is Performing As Himself at the 2019 Oscars"}}]}] ```