“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters leads the Billboard Hot 100 for the sixth week, the longest run for a film song since “See You Again” from Furious 7 topped the chart for 12 weeks a decade ago. So you might think “Golden” is a cinch to land an Oscar nomination for best original song.
It certainly could be nominated, but its chart success provides no guarantee. Of the 14 film songs that have topped the Hot 100 since 2000, just four were nominated for best original song at the Oscars. Even “See You Again” failed to land a nomination. The soothing tone of the song helped fans mourn the loss of Paul Walker, one of the stars of the franchise, who had died in a 2013 car crash. Given the magnitude of the hit, and the song’s touching backstory, you might reasonably have expected it to be nominated, but voters sometimes surprise.
Netflix’s official Oscar entry on “Golden” lists five songwriters: EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, 24, IDO, and TEDDY. Oscar rules stipulate that if there are more than four songwriters on a song, they must sign a form saying they agree to receive one “group statuette” for all of them to somehow share, should they win.
The Academy introduced the best original song category in 1935, when most songs were written by one or two songwriters. No winner in this category had even three writers until “The Windmills of Your Mind” by Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman won in 1969. None had four writers until “Arthur’s Theme (The Best That You Can Do)” by Christopher Cross, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen won in 1982. The Academy is clearly uncomfortable with the trend towards more songwriters, but trying to hold back that tide is not really their role. Rewarding excellence is.
Let’s take a look at the 14 film songs that have topped the Hot 100 since 2000. The years shown are the years the songs topped the Hot 100. We show you how long they remained on in the top spot, who wrote the songs and tell you their Oscar fate.
Weeks at No. 1: 1
Artist: Aaliyah
Songwriters: Timbaland, Static Major
Oscars: Not nominated.
Weeks at No. 1: 3
Artist: janet
Songwriters: Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis
Oscars: Not nominated. Jackson and Jam & Lewis had been nominated seven years earlier for co-writing “Again” from Poetic Justice.
Weeks at No. 1: 11
Artist: Destiny’s Child
Songwriters: Beyoncé Knowles, Samuel Barnes, Cory Rooney, Jean-Claude Olivier
Oscars: Not nominated. Beyoncé was finally nominated 21 years later for co-writing “Be Alive” from King Richard.
Weeks at No. 1: 5
Artist: Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya & P!nk
Songwriters: Bob Crewe, Kenny Nolan
Oscars: Not eligible; the song was written and first recorded in 1974. Labelle’s original recording of the song topped the Hot 100 in 1975.
Weeks at No. 1: 12
Artist: Eminem
Songwriters: Jeff Bass, Eminem, Luis Resto
Oscars: It won, becoming the first hip-hop song to win best original song. Eminem elected not to perform the song on the show that year, and no suitable substitute performer could be found. He didn’t even show up to accept his Oscar. He finally performed the song on the Oscars in 2020.
Weeks at No. 1: 4
Artist: Nelly, P. Diddy and Murphy Lee
Songwriters: Nelly, Murphy Lee, P. Diddy, Varick Smith, Basement Beats, Adonis Shropshire
Oscars: Not nominated.
Weeks at No. 1: 5
Artist: Beyoncé feat. Slim Thug
Songwriters: Beyoncé Knowles, Swizz Beatz, Bun B, Sean Garrett, Angela Beyincé, Slim Thug
Oscars: Not nominated. As noted above, Beyoncé was finally nominated in 2021 for co-writing “Be Alive” from King Richard.
Weeks at No. 1: 10
Artist: Pharrell Williams
Songwriter: Pharrell Williams
Oscars: Nominated but lost to “Let It Go” from Frozen. Pharrell performed the song on the Oscar telecast. “Happy” reached No. 1 just before the Oscar ceremony. Billboard announced that it would hit No. 1 on Feb. 26, 2014. The Oscars were held on March 2.
Weeks at No. 1: 12
Artist: Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth
Songwriters: Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth, Justin Franks, Andrew Cedar
Oscars: Not nominated.
Weeks at No. 1: 1
Artist: Justin Timberlake
Songwriters: Justin Timberlake, Max Martin, Shellback
Oscars: Nominated but lost to “City of Stars” from La La Land. Timberlake performed the song on the telecast, tagging his performance with a bit of Bill Withers’ enduring 1977 hit “Lovely Day.”
Weeks at No. 1: 1
Artist: Post Malone featuring Swae Lee
Songwriters: Post Malone, Swae Lee, Carl Rosen, Carter Lang, Louis Bell, William Walsh
Oscars: Not nominated.
Weeks at No. 1: 1
Artist: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
Songwriters: Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt
Oscars: It won. Gaga and Cooper’s performance of the song, which started out in the audience, was one of the highlights of the Oscar telecast. Now that’s what you call star power. This is the only film song in the 2000s to reach No. 1 only after winning the Oscar. The Oscars were on Feb. 24 that year. Billboard announced on March 4 that the song would zoom from No. 21 to No. 1.
Weeks at No. 1: 5
Artist: Carolina Gaitan, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz & Encanto Cast
Songwriter: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Oscars: It wasn’t entered. “Dos Oruguitas” was entered instead to represent the film. It was nominated but lost to “No Time to Die” from the film of the same name. In a very rare event, “Bruno” was performed on the telecast even though it hadn’t been nominated. (The Oscar producers see the Billboard charts, too.) Becky G, Luis Fonsi and Megan Thee Stallion joined the original stars to perform the song because, well, why not?
Weeks at No. 1: 6 so far
Artist: HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI
Songwriters: EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, 24, IDO, TEDDY
Oscars: TBD. Nominations will be announced on Jan. 22, 2026. The 98th Oscars will be held on March 15, 2026.
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