Rihanna releases new single 'Lift Me Up' for Black Panther - and fans are absolutely loving it

After a six year absence, Rihanna has provided us with a new soundtrack for our weekend with new single ‘Lift Me Up’.

Released on Friday (October 28) - the song forms part of the soundtrack for the Marvel Studios sequel film ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.

The singer had teased her return to music earlier in the week with a post on Instagram.

The film’s director, Ryan Coogler said Rihanna’s performance of the song written by Nigerian artist Tems was to honour late actor Chadwick Boseman.

And fans are reacting positively to the single on social media with many praising Rihanna’s vocals, her maturing sound, and some even tipping the song to win an Oscar.

Another tweet saw one fan say: “Didn’t realise how much I missed hearing Rihanna’s voice and new music from her until it all hit me when i pressed play on Lift Me Up.”

Director Ryan Coogler said Rihanna's involvement in the project was to honour the late actor Chadwick Boseman.

The actor starred in 2018’s Black Panther before his tragic death in 2020 from colon cancer.

The single marks Rihanna’s first solo release since her 2016 album ‘Anti’ which featured hit single ‘Work’ where the R&B star collaborated once again with Drake.

Although Rihanna has not released her own music since then, she has actively featured on other artists' songs in recent years.

She collaborated with Future on 'Selfish', N.E.R.D on 'Lemon', and featured on DJ Khaled's smash hit 'Wild Thought' which heavily sampled Santana's 'Maria Maria'.

The singer has also recently featured on Kendrick Lamar's 'Loyalty', and on PartyNextDoor's 'Believe It'. She also co-starred in her beau A$AP Rocky's music video for 'D.M.B' where some fans are convinced it was announced that the pair are engaged.

Earlier this year, this was also announced that Rihanna will headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LVII. This has led to rumours that more new music could be on the way.