
The 2025 Oscar nominations have arrived, showcasing a diverse range of musical talent across its categories. Diane Warren earned her 16th nomination for The Journey from The Six Triple Eight, while Elton John is in the running for the original song Never Too Late from his life documentary.
Emilia Pérez leads the charge in music, boasting two original song nominations—El Mal and Mi Camino—and one for best score. This brings composer duo Clément Ducol and Camille three nominations. Meanwhile, first-time nominees Abraham Alexander and Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada earned recognition for Like A Bird from Sing Sing.
Notably, Challengers did not make the cut for the original score category. Other nominees include Daniel Blumberg for The Brutalist, Volker Bertelmann for Conclave, John Powell and Stephen Schwartz for Wicked, and Kris Bowers for The Wild Robot.
Here’s how some of the Oscar music nominees reacted to the exciting news.
Diane Warren celebrated her nomination for The Journey, marking her 16th nod. Reflecting on the milestone, she said, “The fact that I get another shot, you know, is awesome. I love it. It’s like the losing team that’s getting sent back,” she joked to The Associated Press. "I don’t know anything about sports and stuff, but I guess (it’s) like a Super Bowl, like a team that, you know, loses for decades. People root for them.
“I have an honorary Oscar sitting right over there,” she gestured. “He gets very lonely.” Reflecting on her career, she added, “I never did have a sweet 16. I was 16, but probably I wasn’t sweet. Since I’m only 39, how did that happen?”
As in past years, she hosted a “sleepless sleepover” with friends ahead of the nomination announcements.
The duo behind Emilia Pérez celebrated their three nominations. Camille described her emotions, saying, “You go from anxiety to relief, and you’re filled up with energy and you need that. We’ve worked so much for the campaign ... I feel very fulfilled and very happy for all the team.”
“For me, it represents something very important,” she added. “It’s a very free, provocative, and empathic, compassionate movie. And I really think this is what we need now.”
Ducol expressed similar excitement. “It’s totally incredible. I was like, ‘What?’ It’s three nominations. It’s huge. We were involved at the beginning of the construction of the story in music ... So everything is linked together, woven between the script, the songs. It’s our story, our movie ... The music in this movie is the script. It is the story," she was quoted as saying.
Elton John, a two-time Oscar winner, reacted with joy. “It’s an incredible honour to receive this nomination for Never Too Late, alongside my collaborators Brandi Carlile, Bernie Taupin, and Andrew Watt. Thank you to the Academy for this nomination and to everyone who helped bring this beautiful song to the world.”
Brandi Carlile, a first-time nominee, shared her excitement. “I’m having a hard time fathoming, let alone explaining to anybody what it feels like to be Oscar-nominated alongside my greatest heroes of all time for something so meaningful. I honestly can’t imagine a higher honour.”
Adrian Quesada recalled hearing the news, “I had just dropped my daughter off at school, and I got the first text. I just got chills. Abe and I would have never imagined waking up to an Academy Award nomination.”
For Alexander, the announcement brought tears. “I was on the couch this morning watching it, and I instantly started crying. It feels surreal.” He added, “The song is only a reflection of this film, and the film is truly a piece of art that helps,” he said.
John Powell, who was displaced by the recent Los Angeles wildfires, described his reaction, “It’s such a weird time to be getting excited about something like this. I quite happily slept in this morning and got a call from my agent ... It’s a wonderful thing. It was a shock.”
Kris Bowers reflected on his first original score nomination, “Ever since I was a kid, this is the category that I would study and the space that I was always hoping to be welcomed into. I feel pretty honoured.”
Despite personal joy, he noted the ongoing devastation from wildfires:
“We have a lot of really close friends that lost everything.”
The 2025 Oscar music nominations bring both joy and poignancy, highlighting the resilience and creativity of its nominees.