‘Golden,’ ‘Shallow,’ ‘Shaft’ & More: All 18 Best Original Song Oscar Winners to Hit No. 1 on the Hot 100

From the film: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Credits: Music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David

Weeks at No. 1: Four, beginning Jan. 3, 1970

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: B.J. Thomas

Notes: This was both Thomas’ first No. 1 and Bacharach’s first best song winner. The award was presented by Candice Bergen, a star even then, nearly two decades before her career-capping role as Murphy Brown. Bacharach won a second Oscar on the night for best original score for a motion picture (not a musical).

From the film: Shaft

Credits: Music & lyrics by Isaac Hayes

Weeks at No. 1: Two, beginning Nov. 20, 1971

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Isaac Hayes

Notes: With this cool and funky smash, Hayes became the first Black songwriter to win for best original song. The award was presented by Joel Grey, co-star of the recently released Cabaret (which would win eight Oscars, including best supporting actor for Grey, the following year). Hayes received a second Oscar nod that year for best original dramatic score. This was his only No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 – in fact, his only top 10 hit.

From the film: The Poseidon Adventure

Credits: Music & lyrics by Joel Hirschhorn & Al Kasha

Weeks at No. 1: Two, beginning Aug. 4, 1973

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Connie Stevens

Notes: This ballad hadn’t even cracked the Hot 100 when the Oscars were presented on March 27, 1973. It first charted in June and reached No. 1 in August. This was McGovern’s first Hot 100 hit and the first of two Oscar winners for Kasha & Hirschhorn, both of which were written for disaster movies produced by Irwin Allen. The second, two years later, was “We May Never Love Like This Again” from The Towering Inferno.

McGovern also had a Hot 100 hit with that song, albeit a much more modest one. It peaked at No. 83. Sonny & Cher, whose weekly variety show was then at its peak, presented the Oscar to “The Morning After.” Said Kasha in accepting the award: “I’m very, extremely grateful, and you made two people very happy in Brooklyn tonight, Rose and Irving Kasha. So, I want to thank you for that.”

From the film: The Way We Were

Credits: Music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman

Weeks at No. 1: Three, beginning Feb. 2, 1974

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Peggy Lee

Notes: This instant standard was Streisand’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. It reached No. 1 two months before the April 2, 1974 ceremony. It was Hamlisch’s only best song winner and the second for The Bergmans, following “The Windmills of Your Mind” from The Thomas Crown Affair.

Hamlisch made history as the first and only composer to win three Oscars in one night. In addition to this award, he also won best original dramatic score for The Way We Were and best scoring: adaptation for The Sting. “Marvin, it’s positively obscene how many of these you have,” Marilyn Bergman teased in accepting the best song award. She also paid tribute to Streisand, calling her “the best singer that any lyric writer could ever have singing their song.”

Streisand was nominated for best actress for her performance in The Way We Were but declined to perform the song on the telecast. The producers got Peggy Lee to sing it instead. Streisand finally sang the song on the Oscars in 2013, during the In Memoriam segment, which included her friend and frequent collaborator Hamlisch. She reprised the song in the 2026 In Memoriam segment, which included her Robert Redford, her friend and co-star in The Way We Were.

From the film: A Star Is Born

Credits: Music by Barbra Streisand, lyrics by Paul Williams

Weeks at No. 1: Three, beginning March 5, 1977

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Barbra Streisand

Notes: This was Streisand’s second No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 and brought her a second Oscar, following her best actress win for Funny Girl. She is, to this day, the only person to win Oscars for both acting and songwriting. This is Williams’ only Oscar win to date.

“Evergreen” reached No. 1 a few weeks before the Oscar telecast on March 29, 1977. The award was presented by Neil Diamond, who would team with Streisand in the following year to record a duet version of “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.

“In my wildest dreams I never, never could ever imagine winning an Academy Award for writing a song,” Streisand said in accepting the award. For his part, the diminutive Williams good-naturedly said, “I was gonna thank all the little people, and then I remembered I am the little people.”

From the film: You Light Up My Life

Credits: Music & lyrics by Joseph Brooks

Weeks at No. 1: Ten, beginning Oct. 15, 1977

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Debby Boone

Notes: This was Boone’s first Hot 100 hit and her only song to crack the top 40. This was also Brooks’ only Oscar nomination. Fred Astaire, one of the greatest stars in the history of music in film, presented the award. Brooks could have showed more finesse in his acceptance speech: “Thank God it’s over,” he said, laughing. “It’s been a long kind of haul. I am so happy that after all this time it’s finally here.”

Two songs that might have given “You Light Up My Life” a run for its money – the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” and Kander & Ebb’s “Theme From New York, New York” (performed in the film by Liza Minnelli) – weren’t even nominated. Read more here about the Bee Gees’ snub.

From the film: Arthur

Credits: Music & lyrics by Peter Allen, Burt Bacharach, Christopher Cross & Carole Bayer Sager

Weeks at No. 1: Three, beginning Oct. 17, 1981

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Christopher Cross

Notes: This marked the first time in Oscar history that four songwriters shared the credit for writing the best song winner. It was Cross’ first new music since becoming the first person to sweep the top four Grammy awards in the same year on Feb. 25, 1981. It became his second No. 1 hit (following “Sailing”) and Bacharach’s second best song winner (following “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”).

It was the only win in that category for Sager, who has also been nominated for such award-worthy songs as “Nobody Does It Better” and “The Prayer.” It was the only nomination in that category for both Cross and Allen. Bette Midler, who had a Hot 100 hit in 1977 with the Sager-co-written “You’re Moving Out Today,” presented the award.

From the film: An Officer and a Gentleman

Credits: Music by Jack Nitzsche & Buffy Sainte-Marie, lyrics by Will Jennings

Weeks at No. 1: Three, beginning Nov. 6, 1982

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes

Notes: This was the only No. 1 for both artists and the only Oscar winner for both Nitzsche and Sainte-Marie (who were married at the time). Jennings landed a second best song winner in 1998, for co-writing a big hit from an even bigger movie about a supposedly unsinkable ship. Olivia Newton-John, who had performed the nominated “Hopelessly Devoted to You” from Grease on the 1979 Oscar telecast, presented the award.

From the film: Flashdance 

Credits: Music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Irene Cara & Keith Forsey

Weeks At No. 1: Six, beginning May 28, 1983

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Irene Cara and 44 boys and girls from the National Dance Institute

Notes: This was the second best song winner that Cara performed, following “Fame,” but this time she co-wrote the song and thus shared in the Oscar glory. This was her only Oscar nod and also her only No. 1 Hot 100 hit. Moroder won again in the category in 1987 for co-writing “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun. Forsey was nominated in 1988 for co-writing the Bob Seger hit “Shakedown” from Beverly Hills Cop II.

A second song from Flashdance, “Maniac,” was also nominated. The award was presented by Jennifer Beals, the star of Flashdance, alongside Matthew Broderick, who had starred in 1983’s WarGames.

From the film: The Woman in Red

Credits: Music & lyrics by Stevie Wonder

Weeks at No. 1: Three, beginning Oct. 13, 1984

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Diana Ross

Notes: This was Wonder’s eighth of 10 No. 1 hits on the Hot 100, and his only Oscar winner. “I cannot, I cannot believe it,” Wonder said in accepting the award from presenter Gregory Hines. “I never thought this would happen.”

This was the first (and so far only) year in Oscar history where all five nominees for best original song were No. 1 Hot 100 hits. Read more about that year’s hit-studded field here.

From the film: White Nights

Credits: Music & lyrics by Lionel Richie

Weeks at No. 1: Four, beginning Dec. 21, 1985

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Lionel Richie

Notes: Songwriters don’t always win for their most classic film songs. Richie is a good example: He was nominated for writing “Endless Love,” his elegant duet with Diana Ross, which he wrote for the 1981 film of the same name. He lost to Burt Bacharach and company for “Arthur’s Theme.” Richie won four years later with this less classic ballad, which was the fifth of his five No. 1 solo hits. The award was presented by Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor, stars of the all-time classic movie musical Singin’ in the Rain.

Richie was a cowriter on a second song that was nominated that year, “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)” from The Color Purple. There was also a second nominated song from White Nights – “Separate Lives (Love Theme From White Nights),” written by Stephen Bishop for Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin.

From the film: Top Gun

Credits: Music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Tom Whitlock

Weeks at No. 1: One: Sept. 13, 1986

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Melba Moore and Lou Rawls

Notes: Moroder has been nominated for three Oscars – and won all three. He won for best original score for Midnight Express in 1979 and then best original song for “Flashdance…What a Feeling” and this rock ballad. This was Whitlock’s only nomination, as well as Berlin’s only top 20 hit on the Hot 100. Oscar producers enlisted R&B stars Melba Moore and Lou Rawls to perform the song on the telecast.

From the film: Dirty Dancing

Credits: Music by John DeNicola, Donald Markowitz & Franke Previte, lyrics by Frank Previte

Weeks at No. 1: One: Nov. 28, 1987

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes

Notes: Five years after “Up Where We Belong,” Warnes made it back to the Oscar stage, and to the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100, performing this song from Dirty Dancing. This was Medley’s only top 40 hit apart from the Righteous Brothers, the blue-eyed-soul duo of the ’60s and ’70s. The award was presented by Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli, who had co-starred in the 1981 hit Arthur.

This was the only Oscar nomination for all three co-writers. In accepting the award, Previte gave thanks to the film’s music supervisor Jimmy Ienner (older brother of record exec Don Ienner): “Well, about a year and a half ago a gentleman called me up and told me that I should write a song for Dirty Dancing that would change my life. So I’d like to thank Jimmy Ienner for changing my life.”

From the film: Aladdin

Credits: Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Tim Rice

Weeks at No. 1: One: March 6, 1993

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Brad Kane & Lea Salonga

Notes: This song probably wouldn’t exist were it not for lyricist Howard Ashman’s tragic death from AIDS in 1991. After Ashman died, Menken had to find a new collaborator. Enter Tim Rice, who had risen to fame in musical theater collaborating with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Rice graciously saluted Ashman in his acceptance speech: “I’m extremely lucky to be standing in his shoes. I know he’d be here today if he were still alive.”

“A Whole New World” prevailed over “Friend Like Me,” which Menken had written with Ashman shortly before his death. This was Rice’s first of three best song winners; Menken’s third of four. Menken won a second Oscar on the night for best original score.

“A Whole New World” reached No. 1 a few weeks before the March 29, 1993 ceremony. It was Bryson’s only No. 1 hit on the Hot 100; Belle’s only top 40 hit on that chart. Oscar producers booked Brad Kane & Lea Salonga, who sang the original version of the song in the film, to perform it on the telecast, rather than the pop performers who sang it over the end credits.

From the film: Titanic

Credits: Music by James Horner, lyrics by Will Jennings

Weeks at No. 1: Two, beginning Feb. 28, 1998

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Celine Dion

Notes: This was Dion’s third No. 1 hit on the Hot 100, following “The Power of Love” and “Because You Loved Me” (which was also from a film, Up Close & Personal).  It reached No. 1 a few weeks before the March 23, 1998 ceremony. It was Jennings’ second best song winner, following “Up Where We Belong.” It was Horner’s only best song winner. Madonna, who had performed two Oscar-winning songs, “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)” from Dick Tracy and “You Must Love Me” from Evita, presented the award. Horner also won for best original dramatic score.

Titanic director James Cameron famously didn’t want a pop song in his film. Horner and Jennings wrote one anyway, and Dion recorded it, more or less on spec. Accepting the Oscar, Horner said: “Jim Cameron, thank you for being in a good mood that day when I brought you the song.”

From the film: 8 Mile

Credits: Music by Jeff Bass, Eminem & Luis Resto, lyrics by Eminem

Weeks at No. 1: 12, beginning Nov. 9, 2002

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Not performed

Notes: This was the first hip-song to win for best original song. It was Eminem’s first No. 1 on the Hot 100, and the only best original song nomination for all three winners. Barbra Streisand presented the award, which would have made for an Oscar photo op for ages if Eminem had shown up. As it was, Resto was the only winner who was present. He praised Eminem: “It’s a great thing working with Marshall day in, day out. He’s creative. He has symphonies in his head that I’m privileged to put on the tape.” When Em didn’t show, Oscar producers wisely refrained from selecting a substitute performer to do “Lose Yourself.” Eminem finally performed the song on the Oscars in 2020.

From the film: A Star Is Born

Credits: Music & lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt & Anthony Rossomando

Weeks at No. 1: One: March 9, 2019

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

Notes: This was Gaga’s fourth No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. “Shallow” peaked at No. 5 prior to the Oscar telecast, but surged to No. 1 in the wake of the Feb. 24, 2019 ceremony, where Gaga and Cooper memorably performed the song. It was the first Oscar-winning song to not reach No. 1 until after the Oscar telecast since “The Morning After” in 1973.

Gaga was the first person to be nominated for an Oscar for acting in a leading role and songwriting in the same year. Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) equaled the feat the following year. Accepting the award, Gaga paid tribute to her co-star and director, Bradley Cooper: “Bradley, there is not a single person on the planet that could have sang this song with me but you.” In his speech, Ronson showered praise on Gaga: “I think when you’re in the room with this person, you don’t really have to do too much. She acts, she writes, she sings the song. Lady Gaga, we salute you; thank you for this.”

Three of the four writers have received subsequent Oscar nods: Gaga was nominated in 2023 for co-writing “Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick; Ronson and Wyatt were nominated in 2024 for “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie.

From the film: KPop Demon Hunters

Credits: Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park

Weeks at No. 1: Eight, beginning Aug. 16, 2025

Performed on the Oscar telecast by: HUNTR/X: EJAE, Audrey Nuna & REI AMI

Notes: This is the first Kpop smash to win an Oscar; the first winner in this category with more than four credited writers; and the first where each of the winners won’t receive an Oscar statuette. (The Motion Picture Academy has a strict rule that it will award no more than four statuettes in this category. If a song has five or more co-writers, as is the case with “Golden,” the writers must sign an agreement that, should they win, they will share one statuette.)