Most Oscar nominations for Best Original Song (female)

Marilyn Bergman’s (USA, 1928-2022) 28-year-old female record for the most nominations in the Academy Awards’ Best Original Song category was equalled on 23 January 2024 when songwriter Diane Warren (USA) landed her 15th career nomination for providing the music and lyrics to “The Fire Inside”, from director Eva Longoria’s biographical comedy-drama Flamin’ Hot (USA, 2023). The song, which does not appear on the film’s soundtrack, is performed by American singer Becky G.

Bergman’s 15 Best Original Song nods with her husband Alan Bergman (b. 1925) made them one of the most potent songwriting duos of the 20th century. Their run of success began at the 41st Academy Awards in 1969, winning the statuette for penning the English lyrics to Michel Legrand’s “The Windmills of Your Mind”, from The Thomas Crown Affair (USA, 1968), made famous by Noel Harrison.

They garnered nominations in consecutive years in 1970-74 (including a win for “The Way We Were”, from the American film of the same name, in 1974) and 1979-80.

In 1983, they made history with three nominations in a single year, with songs from three different films (“How Do You Keep the Music Playing?”, “If We Were in Love” and “It Might Be You”), and followed it up with two nods in 1984 for songs from Yentl (USA, 1983).

The Bergmans’ final two Best Original Song nominations came in 1990 and 1996, for "The Girl Who Used to Be Me" and "Moonlight".

Warren’s nominations CV (1988-2024) includes “Because You Loved Me” (Celine Dion), “How Do I Live” (LeAnn Rimes), “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” (Aerosmith), “There You’ll Be” (Faith Hill), “Til It Happens to You” (Lady Gaga) and a remarkable run of seven nominations in seven successive years (2018-24).

Although none of her 15 nominations have been converted into wins (pending the outcome of her nod for “The Fire Inside” at the 96th Academy Awards on 10 March 2024), Warren was presented with an Academy Honorary Award in 2023 “for her genius, generosity and passionate commitment to the power of song in film”.