Elton John & Brandi Carlile Shortlisted For Best Song Oscar
Elton John and Brandi Carlile‘s song Never Too Late, from the documentary of the same name, has been nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars 2025.
The Academy announced the shortlists for several categories for the 2025 awards ceremony last night (17 December). Among the revealed shortlists are Best Original Song and Best Original Score.
There are some heavy hitters from the pop world joining John & Carlile in the shortlist for Best Original Song, including Kneecap, Pharrell Williams, Robbie Williams, Selena Gomez and Trent Reznor.
After watching an early cut of the work-in-progress documentary, Brandi was inspired to write an original song, taking influence and guidance from Bernie Taupin’s style. Brandi brought the lyrics and concept to Elton to continue co-writing together, with Andrew Watt adding additional writing and production.
John told Billboard that Carlile’s song “just summed up the whole of the documentary perfectly. “What she saw she wrote down in a very concise way and summed up the whole of that hour and 40 minutes of time in a lyric, which was incredible.”
“I was moved by what I was watching. I especially loved some of that historical footage, and it just sent me back throughout my childhood,” Carlile said. “I felt like my life admiring Elton just sort of flashed before my eyes. And I came to this conclusion that I had something to say about him and that I wanted him to say it,” she says.
Best Original Song Oscar shortlist
Aaron Pierre & Tiffany Boone – Tell Me It’s You (Mufasa: The Lion King)
Adrian Quesada & Abraham Alexander – Like a Bird (Sing Sing)
Auli‘i Cravalho Featuring Rachel House – Beyond (Moana 2)
Camille, Zoe Saldaña & Karla Sofía Gascón – El Mal (Emilia Pérez)
Elton John & Brandi Carlile – Never Too Late (Elton John: Never Too Late)
Kneecap – Sick in the Head (Kneecap)
Kristen Wiig – Harper and Will Go West (Will & Harper)
Lainey Wilson – Out of Oklahoma (Twisters)
Maren Morris – Kiss the Sky (The Wild Robot)
Pharrell Williams & Princess Anne High School Fabulous Marching Cavaliers – Piece by Piece (Piece by Piece)
Robbie Williams – Forbidden Road (Better Man)
Saoirse Ronan & Nicholas Britell – Winter Coat (Blitz)
Selena Gomez – Mi Camino (Emilia Pérez)
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Compress / Repress (Challengers)
Best Original Score shortlist
Aaron Zigman – The Six Triple Eight
Amelia Warner – Young Woman and the Sea
Andrea Datzman – Inside Out 2
Alberto Iglesias – The Room Next Door
Benjamin Wallfisch – Alien: Romulus
Bryce Dessner – Sing Sing
Chanda Dancy – Blink Twice
Clément Ducol & Camille – Emilia Pérez
Cristobal Tapia de Veer – Babygirl
Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist
Danny Elfman – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Hans Zimmer – Blitz
Harry Gregson-Williams – Gladiator II
John Cardon Debney – Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1
Kris Bowers – The Wild Robot
Robin Carolan – Nosferatu
Tamar-kali – The Fire Inside
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Challengers
Volker Bertelmann – Conclave
John Powell & Stephen Schwartz – Wicked