Elton John, Diane Warren, Ariana Grande, Bob Dylan Biopic, and More Among the 2025 Academy Award Nominees in Music

Songwriter Diane Warren, along with Elton John, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, and more are among the music artists nominated for the 2025 Academy Awards. Hosted by Conan O’Brian, the 97th Academy Awards will be held at the Ovation Hollywood Dolby Theatre on March 2 at 7 p.m. EST and air on ABC and Hulu.

This year, James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role for Timothée Chalamet, who sang all of Dylan’s songs in the film, along with awards for Actress in a Supporting Role for Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Actor in a Supporting Role for Ed Norton, who plays Pete Seeger, and more nods for Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design, and Sound.

Also leading the 2025 nominations, the Jon M. Chu Wicked adaptation, starring Grande and Cynthia Erivo, picked up 10 nominations, including Actress in a Leading Role for Erivo, Actress in a Supporting Role for Grande, along with Best Musical Score by John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, and nods for Best Picture, Sound, and more.

A Best Original Song nom also went to Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert film Never Too Late for the title track, which he co-wrote with longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, Brandi Carlile, and Andrew Watt.

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Though she’s never won an Academy Award and received an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in 2022, hit songwriter Diane Warren picked up her 16th Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for “The Journey” sung by H.E.R. in the 2024 war drama The Six Triple Eight. Warren’s songs have been featured in more than 100 films and she has received Oscar nominations for Best Original Song since 1987 and every decade since then for Because You Loved Me” from Up Close & Personal, “How Do I Live” from Con Air, “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” from Armageddon, and “Somehow You Do,” performed by Reba McEntire in the 2020 movie Four Good Days.

[RELATED: Diane Warren on the Frustrations and Fruition of Songwriting]

Additionally, the French musical crime drama Emilia Pérez led with 13 nominations for Best Picture, Lead Actress (Karla Sofía Gascón), Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldaña), and Best Director (Jacques Audiard). Clément Ducol and Camille were also nominated for Best Original Song for their Emilia Pérez songs “Mi Camino” and “El Mal,” which they co-wrote with Audiard.

The 2025 Oscars will go on as planned following the multiple wildfires that have swept through Southern California decimating thousands of homes and structures in the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and other areas in Los Angeles since January 7.

“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang in a statement. “The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship. 

Due to the fires which are still active within the Los Angeles area, the Academy extended the voting period and moved the announcement to a later date to give additional time to its members who may have been impacted by the disaster. The Academy also canceled its annual Oscars Nominees Luncheon and postponed its Scientific and Technical Awards.

“Our members always share how important it is for us to come together as a community, and we are determined to use this opportunity to celebrate our resilient and compassionate industry, added Kramer and Yang. “We also look forward to honoring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts. We will get through this together and bring a sense of healing to our global film community.”

Best Original Song Nominees

• “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez; Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
• “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
• “Like a Bird: from Sing Sing; Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
• “Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez; Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
• “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late; Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin

Best Original Score Nominees

• The Brutalist (A24), Daniel Blumberg
• Conclave (Focus Features), Volker Bertelmann
• Emilia Pérez (Netflix), Clément Ducol and Camille
• Wicked (Universal Pictures) John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
• The Wild Robot (DreamWorks Animation), Kris Bowers

Photo: Carlo Allegri/Getty Images