Previous Oscar winners Billie Eilish, Finneas, Jon Batiste, and Mark Ronson are up for another golden statue in 2024 as Academy Award nominees for Best Original Song. The winners will be revealed during the 96th Academy Awards, which will broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on ABC, on March 3 and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
This year, Eilish and Finneas were nominated for their song “What Was I Made For?,” one of two Barbie songs nominated in the category. The siblings won their first Oscar in 2022 for “No Time to Die” for the 25th installment of the 007 film franchise.
The Greta Gerwig-directed comedy also picked up another nod for “I’m Just Ken,” which was performed by Barbie star Ryan Gosling and co-written by Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. Ronson and Wyatt also picked up their first Academy Award in 2019 for their work on “Shallow,” performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in the 2018 musical drama A Star Is Born.
Videos by American Songwriter
The Barbie songs are nominated alongside the Diane Warren-penned “The Fire Inside,” performed by Becky G for the film Flamin’ Hot “The Fire Inside,” The Killers of the Flower Moon song “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” written by Scott George and performed by the Osage Tribal Singers, and “It Never Went Away,” written by Jon Batiste and Semisonic’s Dan Wilson and performed by Batiste for his documentary American Symphony.
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In 2023, composer M.M. Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose won the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Naatu Naatu” from the Indian, Telugu-language action-drama RRR. “Naatu Naatu” was the first non-English language song to win in the category since “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire in 2009.
For 2024, here’s a deeper look behind the five nominees for Best Original Song.
1. “The Fire Inside” / Flamin’ Hot
Performed by Becky G; written by Diane Warren
Diane Warren is no stranger to the Oscars and being nominated, but the legendary songwriter has yet to win a statue of her own. This year, Warren is up for Best Original Song for “The Fire Inside” from the Eva Longoria-directed comedy from Flamin’ Hot and has racked up 14 Oscar nominations throughout her career.
In 1987, Warren picked up her first Academy Award nomination for “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” which was co-written with Albert Hammond, performed by Starship, and featured in the romantic comedy Mannequin. Warren’s other Oscar nominations for Best Original Song include: “Because You Loved Me” from Up Close & Personal (1996); “How Do I Live” from Con Air (1997); “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” from Armageddon (1998), among others through her most recent, “Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman in 2022.
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In 2023, Warren received an Honorary Oscar for her achievements. “The Honorary Oscar is a great honor,” joked Warren of her honor. “They’ve never honored a songwriter before in 95 years of the Academy Awards. The fact that I was chosen was huge. … But that being said, my honorary Oscar would love to get a friend. He’s very lonely.”
2. “I’m Just Ken” / Barbie
Performed by Ryan Gosling; written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
Ryan Gosling had a standout, and viral, moment in the movie Barbie when he performed “I’m Just Ken.” His character, Ken, sings the song in the film as he’s trying to find himself and stand out among the other Kens in Barbieland. Doesn’t seem to matter what I do / I’m always number two / No one knows how hard I tried croons Gosling in the song, co-written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt.
“The Ken character just sunk his dopey hooks into me,” said Ronson of the song. “It’s so wonderful to write a song from the tragic person who doesn’t get what they want in the film.”
Upon the release of the film, “I’m Just Ken” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.
Read the meaning behind “I’m Just Ken” HERE.
3. “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” / Killers of the Flower Moon
Written by George Scott
Performed by the Osage Tribal Singers, a collective of singers from the Osage Nation’s I’n-Lon-Schka drum committees, “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” was written by the tribe’s music consultant and composer George Scott’ for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
Based on the 2017 book by David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, the film documents the 1920s Osage Reign of Terror in Oklahoma and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, and Lily Gladstone, who is of European as well as Piegan Blackfeet (Siksikaitsitapi), Nez Perce (Nimíipuu) heritage. Gladstone has also picked up a nomination from the film for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
4. “It Never Went Away” / American Symphony
Written by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
In 2020, Jon Batiste won his first Oscar along with collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their score to the jazz-fused Pixar animated film Soul. Now Batiste is going for a second Oscar, along with co-writer Dan Wilson, for Best Original Song for his piano ballad “It Never Went Away,” featured in the documentary American Symphony.
The film chronicles Batiste’s work composing a symphony amid his wife author Suleika Jaouad’s battle with cancer. “It’s moving just to think about this,” said Batiste. “When Suleika was in the hospital, I wrote her lullabies every day. I would play them in the room while she would paint, and then she would fall asleep to the lullabies.”
Batiste added, “The piano theme in that song is one of those lullabies. It felt spiritually connected to everything that happened.”
5. “What Was I Made For?”
Written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
In 2022, Eilish and Finneas won their first Oscar for “No Time to Die” from the 25th James Bond film of the same name. Former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who plays on the song, also won the Academy Award alongside the siblings.
In addition to their nomination for the Barbie song “What Was I Made For?” the song also won Finneas and Eilish a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. The song has also been nominated for a 2024 Grammy, along with “I’m Just Ken,” for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
[RELATED: Top 10 Billie Eilish Songs]
“We are so incredibly honored to receive a nomination for ‘What Was I Made For?'” said Eilish and Finneas in a statement. “As lifelong fans of film, music in film, and the Academy Awards, this means everything to us. We are so grateful to the Academy, its members, and to be recognized alongside so many songwriters that we respect and admire. … We are truly honored. Thank you.”
Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images
