Brandi Carlile earns first Oscar nom for Elton John documentary
Jan 23, 2025, 12:50 PM
Brandi Carlile performs during the Starbucks annual shareholders meeting at WAMU Theater in Seattle, Washington. (Photo: Stephen Brashear, Getty Images)
(Photo: Stephen Brashear, Getty Images)
Included in the flurry of Oscar nominations Thursday morning was Maple Valley native Brandi Carlile and her song “Never Too Late.”
Her song, which she wrote alongside Elton John, Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt, was made for the documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late.” It was nominated in the Original Song category alongside two songs from “Emilia Pérez,” a song from “The Six Triple Eight” and a song from “Sing Sing.”
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This year’s Original Song nominees are music to our ears. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/1WquDt7urH
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) January 23, 2025
Despite an accolade-filled career that includes 11 Grammy Awards (and 28 total nominations) and two Emmy Awards over the last two decades, this is Carlile’s first Oscar nomination.
“I’m having a hard time fathoming, let alone explaining to anybody what it feels like to be Oscar nominated alongside my greatest heroes of all time for something so meaningful,” Carlile said on social media following the Academy Award nominations. “I honestly can’t imagine a higher honor.”
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The song, a duet sung by Carlile and John, happens to be John’s fifth Oscar nomination. He won for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from “The Lion King” at the 1995 Academy Awards before winning his second for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman” at the 2020 Oscars. His other two nominations were for songs also made for “The Lion King.”
“It’s an incredible honour to receive this Oscar nomination for ‘Never Too Late,’ alongside my collaborators Brandi Carlile, Bernie Taupin and Andrew Watt,” John wrote on social media. “Thank you to the Academy for this nomination and to everyone who helped bring this beautiful song to the world.”
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The Academy Awards ceremony is happening March 2, starting at 4 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ABC while also being simultaneously available on Hulu.
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest and producer of the Seattle Seahawks podcast, The Reset with Gee Scott. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
