Songs that won Oscars
The Oscars – or Academy Awards as they’re also called – are prestigious accolades that are associated with the film industry. For instance, in order for a track to qualify for the highly-coveted Best Original Song Academy Award, said track would have had to be written specifically to be featured on the movie in which it appeared.
As far as the music side of the Academy Awards go, there is also a category called Best Original Score, with scores being the instrumentals which lie at the backdrop of a film.
It can be said that many major motion pictures, i.e. the ones that actually go as far as to create their own music as opposed to compiling a soundtrack of previously-released songs, do so with the specific goal of winning an Academy Award in mind. As such many of the tracks that have won Best Original Song are by proven popular musicians.
Some, though definitely not all “Best Original Songs” experience notable mainstream success also. Owing to this, there are tunes on this list that you’re bound to be familiar with, even if you haven’t watched the movies they’re connected to. Meanwhile, others may be such that they’re so heavily intertwined with the film that you probably never heard the song unless you’ve seen the associated movie also. In any event, prepare yourself to be treated to some true musical classics on this list.
Oscar-Winning Songs (1930s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“The Continental” (1934) | 1934 | Erik Rhodes Lillian Miles | “The Gay Divorcee” |
“Lullaby of Broadway” (1935) | 1935 | Wini Shaw | “Gold Diggers of 1935” |
“The Way You Look Tonight” (1936) | 1936 | Fred Astaire | “Swing Time” |
“Sweet Leilani” (1937) | 1937 | Bing Crosby Lani McIntyre and His Hawaiians | “Waikiki Wedding” |
“Thanks for the Memory” (1938) | 1938 | Bob Hope Shirley Ross Shep Fields and His Orchestra | “The Big Broadcast of 1938” |
“Over the Rainbow” (1939) | 1939 | Judy Garland | “The Wizard of Oz” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (1940s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“When You Wish Upon a Star” (1940) | 1940 | Cliff Edwards | “Pinocchio” |
“The Last Time I Saw Paris” (1940) | 1941 | Ann Sothern | “Lady Be Good” |
“White Christmas” (1942) | 1942 | Bing Crosby Ken Darby Singers John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra | “Holiday Inn” |
“You’ll Never Know” (1943) | 1943 | Alice Faye | “Hello, Frisco, Hello” |
“Swinging on a Star” (1944) | 1944 | Bing Crosby Williams Brothers Quartet John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra | “Going My Way” |
“It Might as Well Be Spring” (1945) | 1945 | Jeanne Crain | “State Fair” |
“On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” (1944) | 1946 | Judy Garland Ben Carter Marjorie Main Virginia O’Brien Ray Bolger | “The Harvey Girls” |
“Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” (1946) | 1947 | James Baskett | “Song of the South” |
“Buttons and Bows” (1948) | 1948 | Dinah Shore and her Happy Valley Boys | “The Paleface” |
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” (1949) | 1949 | Esther Williams Ricardo Montalbán Betty Garrett Red Skelton | “Neptune’s Daughter” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (1950s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“Mona Lisa” (1950) | 1950 | Nat King Cole | “Captain Carey, U.S.A.” |
“In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” (1951) | 1951 | Bing Crosby Jane Wyman Matty Matlock’s All Stars and the Four Hits and a Miss | “Here Comes the Groom” |
“The Ballad of High Noon” (1952) | 1952 | Tex Ritter | “High Noon” |
“Secret Love” (1953) | 1953 | Doris Day | “Calamity Jane” |
“Three Coins in the Fountain” (1954) | 1954 | Frank Sinatra (not credited) | “Three Coins in the Fountain” |
“Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” (1955) | 1955 | The Four Aces | “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” |
“Que Sera, Sera” (1956) | 1956 | Doris Day | “The Man Who Knew Too Much” |
“All the Way” (1957) | 1957 | Frank Sinatra | “The Joker Is Wild” |
“Gigi” (1958) | 1958 | Louis Jourdan | “Gigi” |
“High Hopes” (1959) | 1959 | Frank Sinatra | “A Hole in the Head” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (1960s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“Never on Sunday” (1960) | 1960 | Melina Mercouri | “Never on Sunday” |
“Moon River” (1961) | 1961 | Audrey Hepburn | “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” |
“Days of Wine and Roses” (1962) | 1962 | Andy Williams | “Days of Wine and Roses” |
“Call Me Irresponsible” (1962) | 1963 | Jackie Gleason | “Papa’s Delicate Condition” |
“Chim Chim Cher—ee” (1964) | 1964 | Dick Van Dyke Julie Andrews | “Mary Poppins” |
“The Shadow of Your Smile” (1965) | 1965 | Jack Sheldon | “The Sandpiper” |
“Born Free” (1966) | 1966 | Matt Monro | “Born Free” |
“Talk to the Animals” (1967) | 1967 | Rex Harrison | “Doctor Dolittle” |
“The Windmills of Your Mind” (1968) | 1968 | Noel Harrison | “The Thomas Crown Affair” |
“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (1969) | 1969 | B.J. Thomas | “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (1970s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“For All We Know” (1970) | 1970 | Larry Meredith | “Lovers and Other Strangers” |
“Theme from Shaft” (1971) | 1971 | Isaac Hayes | “Shaft” |
“The Morning After” (1972) | 1972 | Renée Armand | “The Poseidon Adventure” |
“The Way We Were” (1973) | 1973 | Barbra Streisand | “The Way We Were” |
“We May Never Love This Again” (1974) | 1974 | Maureen McGovern | “The Towering Inferno” |
“I’m Easy” (1975) | 1975 | Keith Carradine | “Nashville” |
“Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)” | 1976 | Barbra Streisand | “A Star Is Born” |
“You Light Up My Life” (1977) | 1977 | Kasey Cisyk | “You Light Up My Life” |
“Last Dance” (1978) | 1978 | Donna Summer | “Thank God It’s Friday” |
“It Goes Like It Goes” (1979) | 1979 | Jennifer Warnes | “Norma Rae” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (1980s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“Fame” (1980) | 1980 | Irene Cara | “Fame” |
“Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” (1981) | 1981 | Christopher Cross | “Arthur” |
“Up Where We Belong” (1982) | 1982 | Joe Cocker Jennifer Warnes | “An Officer and a Gentleman” |
“Flashdance… What a Feeling” (1983) | 1983 | Irene Cara | “Flashdance” |
“I Just Called to Say I Love You” (1984) | 1984 | Stevie Wonder | “The Woman in Red” |
“Say You, Say Me” (1985) | 1985 | Lionel Richie | “White Nights” |
“Take My Breath Away” (1986) | 1986 | Berlin | “Top Gun” |
“(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” (1987) | 1987 | Bill Medley Jennifer Warnes | “Dirty Dancing” |
“Let the River Run” (1988) | 1988 | Carly Simon | “Working Girl” |
“Under the Sea” (1989) | 1989 | Samuel E. Wright | “The Little Mermaid” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (1990s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)” (1990) | 1990 | Madonna | “Dick Tracy” |
“Beauty and the Beast” (1991) | 1991 | Angela Lansbury | “Beauty and the Beast” |
“A Whole New World” (1992) | 1992 | Brad Kane Lea Salonga | “Aladdin” |
“Streets of Philadelphia” (1993) | 1993 | Bruce Springsteen | “Philadelphia” |
“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” (1994) | 1994 | Elton John | “The Lion King” |
“Colors of the Wind” (1995) | 1995 | Judy Kuhn | “Pocahontas” |
“You Must Love Me” (1996) | 1996 | Madonna | “Evita” |
“My Heart Will Go On” (1997) | 1997 | Celine Dion | “Titanic” |
“When You Believe” (1998) | 1998 | Mariah Carey Whitney Houston | “The Prince of Egypt” |
“You’ll Be in My Heart” (1999) | 1999 | Phil Collins | “Tarzan” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (2000s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“Things Have Changed” (2000) | 2000 | Bob Dylan | “Wonder Boys” |
“If I Didn’t Have You” (2001) | 2001 | John Goodman Billy Crystal | “Monsters, Inc.” |
“Lose Yourself” (2002) | 2002 | Eminem | “8 Mile” |
“Into the West” (2003) | 2003 | Annie Lennox | “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” |
“Al otro lado del río” (2004) | 2004 | Jorge Drexler | “The Motorcycle Diaries” |
“It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp” (2005) | 2005 | Three 6 Mafia | “Hustle & Flow” |
“I Need to Wake Up” (2006) | 2006 | Melissa Etheridge | “An Inconvenient Truth” |
“Falling Slowly” (2006) | 2007 | Glen HansardMarkéta Irglová | “Once” |
“Jai Ho” (2008) | 2008 | A.R. Rahman Sukhwinder Singh Tanvi Shah Mahalaxmi Iyer Vijay Prakash | “Slumdog Millionaire” |
“The Weary Kind” (2009) | 2009 | Ryan Bingham | “Crazy Heart” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (2010s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Film |
“We Belong Together” (2010) | 2010 | Randy Newman | “Toy Story 3” |
“Man or Muppet” (2011) | 2011 | Jason Segel Walter (voiced by Peter Linz) | “The Muppets” |
“Skyfall” (2012) | 2012 | Adele | “Skyfall” |
“Let It Go” (2013) | 2013 | Idina Menzel | “Frozen” |
“Glory” (2014) | 2014 | Common John Legend | “Selma” |
“Writing’s on the Wall” (2015) | 2015 | Sam Smith | “Spectre” |
“City of Stars” (2016) | 2016 | Ryan Gosling Emma Stone | “La La Land” |
“Remember Me” (2017) | 2017 | Benjamin Bratt | “Coco” |
“Shallow” (2018) | 2018 | Bradley Cooper Lady Gaga | “A Star Is Born” |
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” (2019) | 2019 | Elton John Taron Egerton | “Rocketman” |
Oscar-Winning Songs (2020s)
Song/Year Released | Year Won | Performed By | Performed By |
“Fight for You” (2021) | 2020/21 | H.E.R. | “Judas and the Black Messiah” |
“No Time to Die” (2020) | 2021 | Billie Eilish | “No Time to Die” |