Ryan Gosling's 2024 Oscars Performance Gets Upstaged By Most Unexpected Celeb

Margot Robbie wasn't lying when she said that everyone and their mother would be looking forward to Ryan Gosling's performance of "I'm Just Ken" at the 2024 Oscars. Despite the song losing out on another "Barbie" track, "What Was I Made For?" by Billie Eilish, that didn't stop Gosling from unleashing his Kenergy and giving his all on the stage. But in a twist that no one saw coming, he was momentarily upstaged by none other than Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash.

When "Barbie" was released, nobody would've expected Gosling to perform the instantly iconic song on the 2024 Oscars stage — or on any stage, for that matter. The actor didn't think he could pull it off. While he's no stranger to singing in front of a crowd, he had reservations about doing it at such a prestigious event. "It might be too much of a risk to have me do it," he'd previously told Variety. "I don't know how that would work. But I'm open to it." 

He eventually got tapped by the Academy to perform, and according to producer Mark Ronson, it didn't take long to realize Gosling was going to crush everyone's expectations. "It's an absolutely bananas spectacle," he told E! News. "We're only going to ever get to perform this song maybe once with Ryan, he's kind of put us all on his shoulders, or Ken's shoulders."

And bananas it was! Not only did Gosling captivate audiences with his electric performance, but he also surprised everyone by sharing the stage with Slash, who delivered an equally riveting guitar solo.

Fans everywhere couldn't hide their excitement over Slash making a cameo in the middle of Ryan Gosling's "I'm Just Ken" performance at the 2024 Oscars. Many took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their reactions, with some even claiming that it's one of the best Oscars performances to date.

"If someone told me in 2004 that slash is gonna perform a barbie song at the 2024 oscars i would have told them to take a sip of their cactus cooler and settle down," one tweeted. "THIS WAS ICONIC LEGENDARY I MEAN THEY BROUGHT OUT SLASH?!?!??" another exclaimed. One fan also shared, "The best entertainment of the show!" Joining Gosling and Slash onstage were Wolfgang William Van Halen; Gosling's fellow Kens Simu Liu, Scott Evans, Ncuti Gatwa and Kingsley Ben-Adir; and producers Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. 

It wasn't the first time a star-studded ensemble banded together to perform on "I'm Just Ken." The track featured in the film featured not just legends Slash and Van Halen, but Foo Fighters drummer Josh Freese also Ken-tributed to the track. And per Ronson, it wasn't that hard to ask them to sign up — especially Slash. "I sent him the song and he was like, 'This is a good song ... cool, I'll play on it,'" the producer told Variety. "He kills it, he plays the solo at the end and the rhythm parts. It's wonderful."