Sting appeared at the 2017 Academy Awards to give an intimate and emotional performance of his song "The Empty Chair," which was nominated for Best Original Song. The track, by Sting and J. Ralph, is from Jim, The James Foley Story, a film in tribute to journalist James Foley. James was reporting on the Syrian Civil War in when he was kidnapped and killed on video in August 2014, making him the first American citizen killed by ISIS.
For his Oscar performance, the spotlight was on Sting on top of a chair while he played the acoustic guitar, and sang the song's emotional lyrics. "But there's a shaft of light where I count my days/So don't despair of the empty chair.And somehow I'll be there."
Jim, The James Foley Story was officially released on HBO in February 2016, but made its debut at last year's Sundance Film Festival. The film was directed by James Foley's childhood best friend Brian Oakes.
Sting was one of a few artists to take the 2017 Academy Awards Stage this year. Justin Timberlake opened the show with an energetic performance of his Trolls song "Can't Stop The Feeling," while Lin-Manuel Miranda and Auli’i Cravalho (AKA Moana, herself) performed "How Far I'll Go" from the animated movie Moana. All three songs are nominated for Best Original Song.
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