Music News

As flames rose up on the screen behind her, Becky G performed the red-hot song “The Fire Inside” at Sunday’s (March 10) 2024 Oscars. The best original song nominee, with music and lyrics by Diane Warren, is from the biographical film Flamin’ Hot, which tells the story of Richard Montañez, the former Frito-Lay janitor who claims to have invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

Becky G started the performance on her own — wearing a two-piece black bralette and skirt ensemble with long gloves to match — and was then flanked by 10 girls in white shirts and red pants to sing along with her and a 12-woman choir on the side stages, as well as a full orchestra elevated above the flames behind her.

The Mexican-American singer ended the performance by joining hands with the girls at her side before receiving a standing ovation from the Oscars crowd, which included the song’s nominated writer, Warren, in a black blazer with flames climbing up the lapels and Flamin’ Hot director Eva Longoria.

“The Fire Inside” is Warren’s 15th song to be nominated in the achievement in music written for motion pictures (original song) category at the Oscars, and in an interview with Billboard, she admitted it’s “kind of my theme song.”

“The song’s really about passion,” Warren said. “As I was writing it, I’m thinking, ‘I’m like that, too.’ I’m the person always having to convince people and fight for what I believe in. I’ve always been a self-starter. I’m pretty persistent. This is kind of my theme song, too, I have to say.”

Warren is up against Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie); Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson (“It Never Went Away” from American Symphony); Scott George (“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon); and Billie Eilish and Finneas (“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie) for best original song.

Jon Batiste added some romance to the 2024 Oscars on Sunday (March 10) at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles when he took to the stage to perform “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony.

Dressed in a stylishly cut white suit, the five-time Grammy winner sat at a grand piano and delivered the sweet lyrics. “Summertime adventure/ That’s what we were meant for/ I need you/ And that’s never goin’ to change,” he sang. “It never went away, oh, oh/ Every time I see your face, oh, oh/ The feeling’s just the same, oh, oh/ It’s never goin’ away.”

As he performed, scenes from love stories from films past and present played behind him, including Brokeback Mountain, Shakespeare in Love, and of course, American Symphony, a documentary about Batiste’s journey to writing a song for his wife Suleika Jaouad as she undergoes cancer treatments. “It Never Went Away” was nominated in the best original song category, alongside “I’m Just Ken” (performed by Ryan Gosling) and “What Was I Made For?” (Billie Eilish and Finneas) from Barbie, “The Fire Inside” (Becky G) from Flamin’ Hot and “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” (Scott George and The Osage Singers) from Killers of the Flower Moon.

Batiste — who used to be the band leader of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — won his first Oscar in 2021 for best original score for Disney/Pixar’s Soul, which he scored alongside Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

The 96th annual Academy Awards were hosted for a fourth time by Jimmy Kimmel, and aired live on ABC.

Watch Jon Batiste’s moving performance of “It Never Went Away” below:

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo both walked the 2024 Oscars red carpet channeling their Wicked characters Sunday night (March 10).

The pair, presenters at this year’s awards ceremony and co-stars in the upcoming film adaptation of the musical Wicked — in which Grande portrays Glinda and Erivo portrays Elphaba — arrived in shades of pink and green, respectively.

Grande made a statement in custom Giambattista Valli Haute Couture, wearing a Glinda-inspired bubblegum pink, strapless gown with a ruched bodice and voluminous cape. Her hair was styled in an updo that balanced the look and let all eyes remain on her dress.

Erivo stunned in custom Louis Vuitton, wearing a deep green, leather gown with a V-neck and bold ruffles at her shoulders and down her back.

The first trailer for Wicked premiered on Feb. 11 during the Super Bowl, giving viewers a glimpse at Glinda and Elphaba’s first meeting. Grande gasps upon seeing Erivo, saying, “You’re green!”

Wicked hits movie theaters in two parts, with the first feature-length film premiering on Nov. 27, and the second scheduled for 2025.

Erivo took a moment to praise her co-star’s new album release on the Oscars red carpet.

“I’m so proud of her. The music is really, really beautiful,” the actress said of Grande’s Eternal Sunshine, in an interview with ET.

“I think she’s put so much hard work and heart and soul in it,” she added. “I’m so excited for how people are receiving it now.”

At Sunday’s (March 10) 2024 Oscars, Scott George led a powerful performance with the Osage Tribal Singers of “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” his nominated song from Killers of the Flower Moon.

A scene from the Martin Scorsese-directed film introduced the performance, leading into a wide shot of a large drum that had nine tribal musicians banging on it while 19 other singers and dancers surrounded the drum in a circle. The stage was lit with a red backdrop and a giant glowing sun in the center, that all the musicians were gathered in front of.

Scorsese and the rest of the crowd gave the short-but-impactful performance a rousing standing ovation, matching the celebratory nature of the nominated song.

George, the first Native American to land an Oscar nomination for best original song, told Billboard in an interview published last month that the biggest challenge of the Flower Moon process was submitting the song for an Oscar.

“None of our music is written down,” he shared. “It’s all held on to by memory. But one of the [Oscar] submission requirements was that it would be in a written form. And I just happen to know a person that took that on several years back as part of his education … And so he used that recorder that you got to take home in elementary school to find all the notes and write it all out. Within three to four days, he had it finished, and we got it submitted in time.”

George is up against Diane Warren (“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot); Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie); Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson (“It Never Went Away” from American Symphony); and Billie Eilish and Finneas (“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie) in the achievement in music written for motion pictures (original song) category.

Sunday (March 10) marked the date of the 2024 Oscars, but it’s also Mother’s Day in the U.K. And during Dave Mullins and Brad Booker’s emotional best animated short win for WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, Sean Ono Lennon — the son of Yoko Ono and late Beatles legend John Lennon — made sure to give his mom an extra special shout-out.

Ono Lennon, who served as an executive producer on the short film, took the stage at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles alongside Mullins and Booker. After both the director and producer gave their acceptance speeches, Sean squeezed in a tribute to Yoko Ono — even though the “wrap-it-up” music was already playing.

“My mother turned 91 this February,” he told the crowd. “Can everyone say ‘happy Mother’s Day to Yoko’?”

At his request, the audience in front of him wished the “Give Peace a Chance” artist a happy holiday in unison.

Sean is Ono and John Lennon‘s only child, born in 1975. The famed artist is also mom to a daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox, whom she shares with her ex-husband, film producer Anthony Cox, while John also had son Julian Lennon from his marriage to first wife Cynthia.

According to IMbD, WAR IS OVER! — which Sean co-wrote with Mullins — is set at a World War I front, where “a carrier pigeon delivers moves messages between two soldiers playing a chess game, unaware they are on opposite sides.”

Ono and her late husband collaborated a number of times before Lennon was fatally shot in 1980, notably on “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” The track has gone down in history as a classic Christmas tune, reaching its latest peak of No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022 — more than 50 years after it was first released.