Jon Batiste Honors His Wife And Other Hollywood Couples During Oscars Set

Jon Batiste stunned the masses with his awe-inspiring performance at the 2024 Oscars.

On Sunday night, March 10, the multifaceted artist hit the stage to perform his song "It Never Went Away" inside the Dolby Theatre during the 96th Academy Awards. He sat at a grand piano and played the angelic, Oscar-nominated tune that appears in American Symphony. During his performance, you can see images of him and his wife Suleika Jaouad in a huge moon behind him. He also honored other famous Hollywood couples from Omar Epps & Sanaa Lathan in Love & Basketball to Jake Gyllenhaal & the late Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain.

"It Never Went Away" is nominated for Best Original Song after it appeared in Matthew Heineman’s Netflix documentary American Symphony. The powerful film follows the life and times of Batiste and his wife author Suleika Jaouad. It highlights the long-lasting couple's relationship from the time their friendship began as children up until their marriage. It also details Jaouad's grueling health issues including her battle with leukemia.

“We didn’t know where that film (“American Symphony”) would wind up, or that this album (“World Music Radio”) would make sense to people following an 11-Grammy-nominated, Best Album of the Year record," Batiste told Variety. “We didn’t know that my wife would make it to the end of the film or what its end would be, or if there even would be a film given that we didn’t have funding to start it or finish it. The position we’re in now is again a testament to that divine spark of inspiration really having a meaning. That’s something you have to trust, even when it doesn’t make sense.”

Watch Jon Batiste deliver an emotional performance of his Oscar-nominated song below.