WINNING BY LOSING

Oscar Nominee Breaks Record By Losing Award: ‘I’ll Be Back’

The songwriter cemented her place in the record books with an unprecedented loss.

Another year, another Diane Warren loss.

With her loss on Sunday night, the legendary songwriter, 69, now stands alone with 17 Academy Award nominations without a single win—more than any other individual in history.

Warren’s song, “Dear Me,” which was performed by Kesha in the documentary Diane Warren: Relentless, lost out to South Korean sensation “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters.

“Well at least I’m consistent! And I set a new record tonite!! But U know me, I will be back if you’ll have me!!!” the composer said on Facebook after the ceremony.

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Warren’s ninth consecutive loss broke the composer’s tie with sound mixer Greg P. Russell, who has earned 16 Oscar nominations for Skyfall and Con Air, among others. He had actually earned a 17th nomination, but it was rescinded after he was found to have violated the Academy’s campaigning rules by directly calling voters.

Warren earned her first nomination in 1987 for Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” from Mannequin. Her subsequent work on Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” from Armageddon, Lady Gaga’s “Til It Happens to You” from The Hunting Ground, and Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me" for Up Close & Personal earned her an honorary Oscar in 2022.

In a new interview, Warren said the honorary award did little to help with the sting of losing so many times.

“Well, you know, I still haven’t won the competitive one. And I’m a competitive person,” Warren told the New York Times last week. “But yeah, I still want to win. My honorary Oscar gets really lonely. He wants a friend.”

“It’s not validation. It would just be fun. And now I just keep beating my own record, I guess,” the “If I Could Turn Back Time” songwriter continued. “Who doesn’t want to win, right? But you can’t live and die by that because it’s out of your control. What’s in my control is to do the best work I can.”

Warren now stands alone atop an impressive list of multi-time nominees who have never taken home the golden statue. Fatal Attraction actress Glenn Close has been nominated eight times without a win, split evenly between Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Bradley Cooper has earned 12 nominations over the past decade for his work as an actor, writer, and producer, yet he has not won an Oscar.

Lionel Richie handed Warren’s would-be award to KPop Demon Hunters, which has swept the category all awards season long with wins at the Grammys, Golden Globes, and Critics’ Choice Awards.

Despite her success, Warren is far from the most-nominated individual, or even composer, in Academy Awards history.

Walt Disney holds the record with 59 nominations—winning 22—followed closely by Star Wars composer John Williams, who has been nominated 54 times—winning five. She also trails Meryl Streep, the most acclaimed actor in history, who has three wins from 21 nominations.

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Owen Mason-HillEditorial intern, Obsessed

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