Music

Diane Warren’s 16 Oscar Nominations for Best Original Song: History in the Making

Diane Warren is getting up there on the all-time list of top Oscar nominees for best original song. Her nod this year for “The Journey,” sung by H.E.R. in The Six Triple Eight, is her 16th — a tally equaled by only three other songwriters in the 91-year history of the category. Sammy Cahn leads with 26, followed by Johnny Mercer with 18 and Paul Francis Webster, also with 16.

Moreover, this is the eighth year in a row she has been nominated, which enables Warren to tie Cahn for the longest continuous streak of nominations in this category. Cahn was nominated eight years running from 1954-61.

If you’re looking for a common denominator among Warren’s best original song nominees – besides quality – good luck. Three of them reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but several others didn’t even crack the chart. Three are from blockbuster action films, but several others are from smaller indie films that barely made a dent at the box office.

She’s rarely been part of an Oscar-magnet film that racked up multiple nominations. “The Journey” is her 11th nominated song that originated in a film that received no other nominations besides hers.

Five of the 16 songs are from films directed by women. That’s far higher than the industry-wide percentage of films directed by women. The only director Warren has worked with on two nominated songs is Michael Bay. She wrote songs for his blockbusters Armageddon (“I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”) and Pearl Harbor (“There You’ll Be”).

Let’s take a closer look at Warren’s best original song nominees. The films’ worldwide box-office receipts are taken from boxofficemojo.com (rounded off to the nearest million).

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