OSCARS
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The Oscars might be the biggest night for the film industry, but the 2025 awards show included some pretty epic music moments as well. On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie tells Keith all about her night inside the Dolby Theatre for the 97th Academy Awards, where the Wicked duo of Ariana Grande and […]
Diane Warren lost the best original song award for the 16th time at the 2025 Oscars, but she’s keeping her characteristically good humor about it. The prolific songwriter was nominated for “The Journey,” sung by H.E.R. in The Six Triple Eight. Her first nod in the category came in 1987, for “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” from Mannequin. “I’m […]
After Anora ended as the biggest winner of the 2025 Oscars — snagging five awards, including best picture and best actress — on Sunday, March 2, the stars left the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood to continue celebrating the year in cinema at the various post-Academy Awards parties around town. One of the biggest annual […]
This is a clear sign of the increasing globalization of pop culture, and specifically of the Motion Picture Academy’s voting body.
You wouldn’t have been able to tell from watching RAYE‘s performance at the 2025 Oscars Sunday (March 2) — during which she absolutely nailed Adele‘s “Skyfall” as part of the night’s James Bond tribute — but the British star was actually quite nervous.
And during a post-show interview with Entertainment Tonight, RAYE explained why paying homage to the “Rolling in the Deep” vocalist was particularly “terrifying.” “No one can sing Adele like Adele,” she said. “It’s scary.”
The “Escapism” artist added, “It was terrifying, but also so incredible at the same time.”
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RAYE closed out the Bond medley by taking the stage shrouded in fog, showing off her powerful vocals on Adele’s original theme for the franchise’s 2012 film, Skyfall. The track reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won best original song at the Oscars in 2013.
Before RAYE took the stage, The Substance actress Margaret Qualley performed a slinky dance number with a troupe of tuxedoed men — about which the former told ET, “She ate that up … Multi-talented and fine as hell, Jack [Antonoff] is a very lucky man.”
After Qualley’s number, RAYE’s “Born Again” collaborators LISA and Doja Cat each performed solo renditions of two other famous Bond themes, with the BLACKPINK star delivering both choreography and vocals on Wings’ “Live and Let Die” before the “Paint the Town Red” rapper commanded the spotlight singing Shirley Bassey’s “Diamonds Are Forever.” After RAYE closed out the 007 tribute, the trio came together on stage to receive the applause together.
“We have such a beautiful chemistry together,” RAYE said of LISA and Doja. “I just love those girls, they’re so kind and hardworking and inspiring.”
The Academy Awards come a few weeks after the 2025 Grammys, where the “Oscar Winning Tears” vocalist performed in a best new artist medley alongside fellow nominees Doechii, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Shaboozey; winner Chappell Roan performed elsewhere in the evening. She was also up for songwriter of the year, which ended up going to Amy Allen.
One day prior to the Oscars, RAYE won best R&B act at the 2025 BRIT Awards.
Just over an hour after the 97th Academy Awards came to a close, the annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party was preparing for its hotly anticipated performance from the Grammy-winning artist Chappell Roan.
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Taking place just 10 minutes south of the Dolby Theater, at West Hollywood Park, a mix of fellow artists (from Brandi Carlile to Diplo), actors and industry insiders packed the largest of three rooms as the hour inched past 9:00 p.m. Following an introduction and thank you from Sir Elton John himself, Roan kicked her off her hour-long set at 9:10 with the rousing “Femininomenon” followed by “Naked In Manhattan.”
“Can you believe it?” she asked. “We’re at a dog park behind The Abbey.” She later spoke of the famed gay bar for its role in inspiring her breakout hit “Pink Pony Club” – which she performed alongside John, who stayed seated for its verses but jumped up to sing and dance to the chorus while donning a sparkling pink cowboy hat placed on his head by Roan herself. To which he said: “Yeah, baby!”
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“I would just like to say thank you, Elton, for believing in ‘Pink Pony Club.’ He played it first, y’all. And I’m so grateful that you would have me here,” Roan said. She also stressed the importance of his event while wiping away a tear and holding John’s hand. “You have sacrificed so much for the queer community, and you made it so I could be the artist I could be.”
Prior to duetting on a hit of Roan’s, the pair performed a stunning rendition of John’s Hot 100 No. 1 “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” with John on keys. And earlier, Roan had tucked in another ode to the legend with an incredible cover of his touching top 10 track “Your Song.”
“It’s kind of scary singing it in front of the person who wrote it,” Roan admitted with a laugh, adding it’s “maybe the best song of all time.” She dedicated the song to parents, both of whom were in attendance, and thanked them for introducing her to John’s discography.
Still, the majority of Roan’s set was filled with her own charting hits, including “Casual,” “Hot To Go!” “Red Wine Supernova,” “Good Luck, Babe!” and “My Kink Is Karma.” But no matter what song Roan was performing, she delivered a potent combination of her soaring vocal range and spirited physicality (she rarely stayed in one spot on stage for long and proved to be well acquainted with a high kick). And while nothing about her set was inhibited by the black tie attire and table seatings scattered throughout the room, she had no problem calling out those in the back row who were a bit more reserved.
“Cut loose, baby!” she said with a laugh. “Let’s have fun.” Meanwhile, those packed near the stage had no need for such instructions, as their dancing made the floor shake (coincidentally, an earthquake hit Los Angeles minutes after her set ended).
As John said himself of the superstar while on stage: “You’re the best, baby. I love you so much.”
Billboard was inside the Dolby Theatre for the Wicked opening, the James Bond music tribute & more.
Diane Warren has now gone 0-16 for best original song, while A Complete Unknown was 0-8 overall.
Sean Baker won four Oscars for Anora at the 2025 Academy Awards, which were presented on Sunday (March 2) at the Dolby Theater at Ovation Hollywood. This tied Walt Disney’s 1954 record for most Oscars won in one night.
Baker won best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best editing. At the Oscars in February 1954, Walt Disney won four Oscars (all for different films): best documentary feature (The Living Desert), best documentary short subject (The Alaskan Eskimo), best cartoon short subject (Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom) and best two-reel short subject (Bear Country).
Anora won five awards in all (Mikey Madison also won best actress), which made it the night’s most awarded film. The Brutalist was second with three awards.
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Adrien Brody, Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña won the other three acting awards. But this being Billboard, let’s turn first to the winners in the music categories.
“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez won best original song. It’s the second time in three years that the award has gone to song in a language other than English. “El Mal” is sung in Spanish. “Naatu Naatu” from RRR, an Indian Telugu-language song, won in this category two years ago.
Four other such songs have won over the years – “Mona Lisa” from Captain, Carey, U.S.A. (which is performed in Spanish by a troubadour in the 1950 film, though it is best known for Nat King Cole’s smash cover version in English); “Never on Sunday” from the film of the same name (which is performed in Greek in the 1960 film); “Al Otro Lado Del Río” from The Motorcycle Diaries (which is performed in Spanish in the 2004 film); and “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire 14 years ago (which was performed in Hindi).
“El Mal” was co-written by Clément Ducol and Camille, who are a romantic couple, and Jacques Audiard, who directed the film. Ducol and Camille are the sixth romantic couple to win in this category following Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, and Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
Audiard is just the second person in Oscar history, and the first in nearly 50 years, to win an Oscar for writing or co-writing a song from a film he directed. The first was Joe Brooks, who wrote “You Light Up My Life,” which won in 1978.
“El Mal” beat the latest song by Diane Warren, who has now gone 0-16 in the category, and two-time winner Elton John, who went home from an Oscar ceremony where he was a nominee without an Oscar for the first time. With her 0-16 track record, Warren ties sound and sound mixing specialist Greg P. Russell for the most nominations without a competitive win (yet).
Daniel Blumberg won best original score for The Brutalist. This was one of two awards for Brady Corbet’s film, which stars Adrien Brody as a Hungarian Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and builds a new life in America. Blumberg, 35, is an English artist, musician, songwriter and composer. In addition to composing all the music, Blumberg served as producer and recording engineer and played piano, harmonica, keyboards and synthesizer.
Adrien Brody won his second Oscar for best actor for The Brutalist, 22 years after he won his first for The Pianist. He is just the third actor to win twice in that category since 2000, following Sean Penn (Mystic River and Milk) and Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood and Lincoln).
Mikey Madison won best actress for playing the title role in Anora. The 25-year-old actress won in what was seen as a close race with Demi Moore, 62, nominated for The Substance. Madison is the youngest winner in this category since Jennifer Lawrence won at age 22 in 2013 for Silver Linings Playbook.
Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for A Real Pain. He’s the first winner in that category from a movie that wasn’t nominated for best picture since Christopher Plummer won in 2012 for Beginners. His co-star in the film, Jesse Eisenberg, was nominated for best original screenplay, but lost to Sean Baker for Anora.
Zoe Saldaña won best supporting actress for Emilia Pérez, becoming the fifth actress to win in this category for a musical performance since 2000. She follows Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago (2003), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2007), Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2013) and Ariana DeBose for West Side Story (2022).
Saldaña performed the best original song winner, “El Mal,” in Emilia Pérez. This is only the fifth time an actor has won a competitive acting Oscar for a performance that included singing an Oscar-winning song.
Emilia Pérez won just two awards from its 13 nominations – best original song and best supporting actress. Netflix’s crime musical holds an unwelcome Oscar record: It won fewer Oscars than any other film that received 13 or more nominations. The old record was held by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which won three awards from its 13 nods in 2009.
Paul Tazewell won best costume design for Wicked. He’s just the second Black costume designer – and the first Black man – to win in this category. Ruth E. Carter is the only other Black costume designer to win here. She won for both Black Panther and its sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Flow won the Oscar for best animated feature, becoming the first indie film to win in this category.
At the 97th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night (March 2), Daniel Blumberg took home the Oscar for best original score for composing the music of the towering drama The Brutalist. Blumberg won his first Academy Award on his first nomination, after the 35-year-old previously won the Ivor Novello Award for best original film score […]