The 2025 Oscars Only Added To Diane Warren's Tragic Streak
Before arriving at the 97th Academy Awards, Diane Warren had already obtained an Oscar record that no one wants to have. The 68-year-old songwriter is no stranger to the Academy Awards. She is, however, a stranger to the coveted golden statue itself. The 2025 Oscars marked Warren's eighth nomination in a row for best original song, and 16th nod overall. Warren was recognized for her song, "The Journey," from Tyler Perry's Netflix movie "The Six Triple Eight," but once again, she did not take home the coveted award.
The gong went to composer Clément Ducol and singer-songwriter Camille for "El Mal," from Netflix's controversial former frontrunner "Emilia Pérez." This was the songwriting pair's first-ever Oscar. But, poor Warren has now, stunningly, been nominated for an Oscar and ultimately lost the honor 16 times. She has the most nominations of any female songwriter, which is undeniably impressive. But, we can only imagine how hard it is to get your hopes up yet again and still not manage to get your hands on that little gold guy.
Warren's career is impressive
It's safe to say that Diane Warren is long overdue for her win at this point. And, although she's yet to join the ranks of celebs you forgot have Oscars, the prolific songwriter can't even take home the title of "person nominated for the most Oscars without winning." That dubious non-award goes to sound mixer Greg P. Russell, who has been nominated an incredible 17 times thus far, for blockbuster movies like "Skyfall," "Armageddon," and many more. Still, it's worth noting that Warren has earned her fair share of accolades regardless.
She has written 33 songs that made it into the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 in the U.S. and nine that landed at the coveted No. 1 spot. Among many others, Warren penned Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time," Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing," and Céline Dion's "Because You Loved Me." Over the years, she's also earned a Grammy, an Emmy, and two Golden Globes, as well as an honorary Oscar at the 2022 Governors Awards. Still, it's safe to assume that Warren remains focused on her white whale at the Academy Awards.
Luckily, she's got tons of time. The oldest person to ever take home an Oscar is filmmaker James Ivory, who won the award for best adapted screenplay back in 2018 for "Call Me by Your Name" when he was 89 years old. So, Warren has a couple of decades to go before becoming the oldest person to ever do it. And, hey, maybe she'll break that record, too.