Soundtracking: Diane Warren's 11 Nominations
Wednesday, January 29, 2020 at 10:00AM by Chris Feil
This year, songwriting legend Diane Warren scored her 11th nomination. Readers, er, listeners will know her stamp on big ballads and pop music from as far ranging of legendary artists from Celine Dion to Cher to Mariah Carey. Ballading has mostly been the name of her game, and she's one of the greatest contributors to the past quarter century of pop music because of it.
Despite her legendary status, recent years have had some Oscar obsessives confusing her Oscar history for an entirely sour one. It's true that this year's Breakthrough nomination shows a music branch defaulting to her good name (without yet offering a win) all while sometimes overlooking more prominent work such as Burlesque or even A Star is Born's butt song. Yet what also remains true is that she is one of the great unawarded yet multinominated crafts artists among Oscar history. If music is essential to our relationship to movies, then she's written so many of our memories.
To celebrate Warren, here's a ranking of her 11 Original Song nominations...
11. 2019 - Breakthrough - “I’m Standing With You”
Yes, let's get this one out of the way. Folks, this nomination is smelly. Not just for the chintzy movie but for the ghastly song itself. As a major proponent of keeping Original Song both as a category and a telecast mainstay, I am losing faith. But we won’t let it diminish our love for Warren, because even the best of Oscar’s perennial nominees can show up for bad work.
10. 2018 - RBG - “I’ll Fight”
Last year’s clear fifth place nominee naturally makes for Warren’s most forgettable nomination. Even at the time it felt more rewarding to see its singer Jennifer Hudson back on the Oscar stage than anything to do with the song or its tangential very relationship to the heroic subject of the documentary.
9. 1999 - Music of the Heart - “Music of the Heart”
Okay, maybe this is where I lose some of you. This is certainly one of the more known songs of Warren’s Oscar history, but it’s representative of some of her worst tendencies. Maudlin tones, maudlin lyrics, even with its catchy pop swing. The type of late 90s earnestness that inspires cringing instead of nostalgia.
8. 2015 - The Hunting Ground - “Til It Happens to You”
Many might place this collaboration with Lady Gaga even closer to the bottom, but I find less at fault with this righteous conviction. Is that partly because of Gaga’s emotional production on the telecast? Maybe so. But anyone who sideeyed this well-meaning song at the time is lying to themselves if they say that they would rather Sam Smith’s fully dubious Spectre win over this. It’s among the best of Original Song nominees from documentaries, at least.
7. 2017 - Marshall - “Stand Up for Something”
Another song (a shared nomination with previous winner Common) that had a better performance on the Oscar ceremony than it got credit for! Marshall had already been forgotten by Oscar nomination morning and the song’s mildly formulaic inspiration stylings made this nomination more of an eyeroll than it deserved by a decent margin. Consider it an opposite effect to Breakthrough - the film’s aura shouldn’t affect our perception of the song.
6. 2014 - Beyond the Lights - “Grateful”
A bonafide musical nominated in Original Song is more of a rarity than you might assume, honestly. Beyond the Lights was one of the underrated and under-rewarded gems of its season, so at least its Oscar success was something that acknowledged the emotional journey of the film. And this one felt like a Warren ballad instead of a watered down copy.
5. 1997 - Con Air - “How Do I Live”
Ah, now on to the mega hits. I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but this one holds up the least among them. But it still places Warren where she’s most comfortable: making all of your friends scream for you at karaoke. It’s also still a ballad that got versions from not one but two country divas, so it deserves our respect.
4. 2001 - Pearl Harbor - “There You’ll Be”
On chorus alone, this could’ve been a big contender, yet the verses are what holds it back. But this was a song written to have Faith Hill’s (and our) hair in the dramatic wind of tragedy and Diane knows how to bring the drama. The film owes at least half of its box office to Diane Warren’s Convicted Emotionalism, an emotion it couldn’t evoke on its own, and that is simply a fact.
3. 1998 - Armageddon - “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
The cheesiness factor is high in heterosexual drag that captured the weepiness of a very loud blockbuster. But it’s maybe thanks to Warren and Aerosmith that this was such a four quadrant success, dooming the song to a generation’s worth of weddings and school dances until we simply couldn’t stand it anymore. Divorce it from all that context and we can see the song for what it truly is: a high production value, one-of-a-kind ballad they just don’t make anymore.
2. 1996 - Up Close & Personal - “Because You Loved Me”
Diane Warren deserves more credit for helping catapult Celine Dion into the stratosphere at a key point in her career - and before that even bigger Original Song nominee would send her even further into the cosmos. This is a gratitude ballad that everyone loves and can stand in for any kind of loving relationship - parents, teachers, lovers - without feeling like some kind of vague catchall pop silliness. It simply rules.
1. 1987 - Mannequin - “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”
See, Original Song nominations for terrible movies have always been part of Diane Warren’s charm. But few of them stand the test of time as much as “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”, a song that has inspired repeated use in other movies with their own special meaning like The Skeleton Twins. For those who think that the song sucks because Jefferson Starhip sucks, you are wrong on both counts. Not only is it Diane Warren’s best nomination, it’s her coolest nomination. And yes, it should’ve beat Dirty Dancing.
All Soundtracking installments can be found here!
Reader Comments (25)
This is a very good ranking. I kind of hate "I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing" because, for some reason, my spinning instructor used it two years in a row for stretching.
I'm not going to pick my favourite until Nathaniel mourns the abscence of You Haven't Seen the Last of Me.
I wonder if she'll win this year as the original song category isn't that exciting. The Academy didn't love Rocketman (or Frozen II) as much as Globes or BAFTA.
In the songs she missed out a nomination for, I have to point out If You Asked Me To from Licence To Kill - later turned into a megahit for Celine, though I preferred Patti LaBelle's original. There was definitely room for it in the 89 nominations even if it would've been steamrollered by The Little Mermaid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da-RjeCObyA
I forever will ride and die for "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now," and while I don't begrudge its win, "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" is NOT period and anachronistically exists within the Dirty Dancing world, which always has bugged me.
peggy sue -- naturally i am incensed that the Burlesque number isn't in this lineup but that's the Academy's fault, not Warrens!
I think most of these range from awful to gawd awful, but very happy to see “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” in its proper place, because yeah - a classic.
Can the lack of a clear frontrunner (as I don't think that the Academy was enamoured with Rocketman and it might split vote with Harriett) cause her to finally win?
Nooo I love "Music of the Heart"! (The song, not really the movie)
Because You Loved Me was the jam of 1996.
Imma go listen to Leann Rimes’ version of “How Do I Live?” right now!
I had no idea she wrote Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now! Which I started playing as soon as I saw, obviously.
Now I'm fuming again thanks. You Haven't Seen The Last of Me was better than all the nominees and winner that year. All these meh ballads later, maybe they realise how bloody stupid they were robbing her of her rightful win so they're making it up with plentiful nominations?
Wow, she produces a lot of schlock doesn't she? Anyways, can't really argue with your top 2 (and your bottom 2). But man, I'm sorry, but I really liked MUSIC OF THE HEART. Don't ask me why.
Kind of hilarious how many of these movies otherwise wouldn't get the time of day from the Academy either because they're end credits music for documentaries (a trend in this category I'd like to see end) or they're produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. If Warren could get one of her songs into a halfway decent movie instead of peddling them to dreck like Breakthrough she'd probably win.
Oh man, poor Diane. I listened to her episode of RuPaul’s podcast and she REALLY wants that Oscar and she REALLY wanted a nomination this year. Sadly she’ll be passed over yet again.
She should’ve 10000% won for Armaggedon. I was a huge Celine fan back then, so obviously I wanted The Prayer to win, but come on, nobody remembers that song. Celine remembers it because it’s a duet with Andrea Bocelli, probably not because of the song itself.
It’s insane that this top 5 has songs that everybody remembers (well, nobody remembers There You’ll Be) or were huuuuge hits, one of those for 2 separate artists, and the Academy still screwed her over so many times.
Again, she should’ve been a lock for Armaggedon and the more people say Sam Smith didn’t deserve that Oscar, the better. What a slap in the face that was. And for such a whatever song from such a whatever artist.
It’s not that she deserves 1 Oscar, she should probably have at least 2 by now.
Yes yes yes to the number one song! She should have won for that - with a second for Burlesque.
Wow, of all of those songs. I think that Starship song is the only one I kinda liked. Everything else.... oh fuck no. I really hate "How Do I Live?" as that was a song that got OVERPLAYED to death during a time when one of my cousins from Honduras visited and thought LeAnn Rimes was the greatest thing since sliced bread. BLECH!!!!
That song from Pearl Harbor, another reason why it's the worst film ever made. Just give her a bunch of Razzies.
Seconding thevoid -- Warren deserves Razzies, not Oscars. Her nomination total is proof of how desperately the Best Original Song category needs a substantive overhaul based on quality, not pandering.
"Diane Warren deserves more credit* for helping catapult Celine Dion into the stratosphere..."
*blame
Because you love me
Is the song La Pfeiffer plays every single morning knowing that is what earth think of her!
Love this song and the fact that mrs Pfeiffer is in the movie too.
I only realised recently that Diane Warren wrote the catchy 'Rhythm of the Night' by Debarge which was on the soundtrack to The Last Dragon.
It was a big hit and would've helped put her on the map with the Music Branch ahead of her first nomination in 1987.
Because You Loved Me should've won over Evita. Sorrayyyy.
Warren is a terrific podcast guest. She featured this fall on Leonard and Jessie Maltin's show "Maltin on Movies" and the episode is worth a listen.
I've really come around on her work as the years have gone by. What once struck me as schmaltz now seems like the reliable output of a highly skilled craftsperson. She may not reinvent the wheel with every number, but she seems to approach every project--from prestigious to...less so--with a workman-like zeal I find hard not to admire. Love this article's shoutout to A Star Is Born's "butt song", which I truly consider her most inspired work of the past decade.
Also, she wants an Oscar BAD. And I'm rooting for her...although maybe not this year.
I spent the summer with my grandparents in 2001, so THERE YOU’LL BE has a special nostalgic place in my heart.
I have a soft spot for the trend of major ‘90s action movies having a Diane Warren ballad! I remember there being some controversy as to who would perform “How do I Live”, but I’m glad they went with Trisha Yearwood, as its her version used in the actual film.
I made all my friends who recently saw Celine in concert tell me when she did BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME.
Every nomination post BEYOND THE LIGHTS and HUNTING GROUND has looked a bit sweaty from this music branch. Those RBG, MARSHALL and BREAKTHROUGH songs are all bad.
Correct number one though. Obviously BURLESQUE should be there and should’ve won her the statue. Sigh.