28 Singers and Musicians Who Have Won Oscars

From Billie Eilish to The Beatles, these musical artists have had the honor of receiving the biggest award in Hollywood

From left: Lady Gaga accepts the Oscar for Best Original Song for 'Shallow' from 'A Star Is Born' during the 91st Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 2019; John Legend poses in the press room with his Best Original Song Oscar for 'Glory' from 'Selma' during the 87th Academy Awards at Loews Hollywood Hotel in L.A. on Feb. 22, 2015; Cher holds her Best Actress Oscar for 'Moonstruck' during the 60th Academy Awards at Shrine Auditorium in L.A. on April 11, 1988
Credit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty;WireImage;Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Some musical artists don't just dominate the stage — they also command the big screen.

Throughout Academy Awards history, the biggest names in music have won Oscars for their contributions to Hollywood, whether writing blockbuster songs or delivering lauded performances in films. A lucky few stars have even been honored with more than one golden statuette.

Multi-hyphenate talents such as Barbra Streisand, Cher, Lady Gaga and Jennifer Hudson have broken through beyond the music-centric categories like Best Original Song or Best Original Score to garner nominations and awards recognizing their acting performances or other work across cinema.

Ahead of the 2026 Oscars on March 15, take a look back at the singers and other musicians you probably didn't know have earned an Academy Award.

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Lady Gaga

Gaga may not have won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in 2018's A Star Is Born, but she did walk away with Best Original Song in 2019 for the film's big number, "Shallow."

The singer was previously nominated in 2016 for Best Original Song for "Til It Happens to You" from the 2015 documentary film The Hunting Ground. She received another nomination in the same category in 2023 for "Hold My Hand" from 2022's Top Gun: Maverick.

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Adele

Adele scooped up her first Oscar for Best Original Song in 2013 for "Skyfall," the song from the 2012 James Bond movie of the same name. It was the first theme song from the Bond franchise to win an Academy Award.

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Barbra Streisand

In 1969, Streisand and Katharine Hepburn tied — an extremely rare occurrence at the Oscars — for Best Actress, with Streisand winning for her role in Funny Girl and Hepburn winning for The Lion in Winter.

Streisand went on to win a second Academy Award in 1977 for Best Original Song for "Evergreen," the love theme from the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born.

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan won Best Original Song in 2001 for "Things Have Changed" from the 2000 dramedy Wonder Boys. The singer-songwriter, who was touring Australia at the time, performed the song — and later accepted the award — via satellite during the broadcast.

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Cher

Cher won Best Actress in 1988 for her role as Loretta Castorini in 1987's Moonstruck.

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Common and John Legend

Common (left) and John Legend pose in the press room with their Oscars for Best Original Song during the 87th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 22, 2015Credit: Dan MacMedan/WireImage — Common (left) and John Legend pose in the press room with their Oscars for Best Original Song during the 87th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in L.A. on Feb. 22, 2015
Credit: Dan MacMedan/WireImage

Common and John Legend's powerful anthem "Glory" from the 2014 film Selma earned both artists a statuette for Best Original Song in 2015. Following their win, Legend and Common called for action in the ongoing "struggle for freedom and justice" during their inspiring acceptance speech at the Oscars.

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Elton John

Elton John won an Oscar in 1995 for Best Original Song for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King. His chances of winning were admittedly pretty high, considering he had three of the five nominations in the category.

In 2020, John won his second Oscar for Best Original Song alongside his longtime music partner Bernie Taupin for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from his 2019 biopic Rocketman.

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Eminem

In 2003, rapper Eminem earned his first Oscar nomination — and win! — for "Lose Yourself" from 2002's 8 Mile. While the rapper didn't attend the ceremony, he delivered a surprise performance of the song nearly two decades later at the Academy Awards in 2020.

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Juicy J, DJ Paul and Frayser Boy

From left: Jordan Houston (a.k.a. Juicy J), Paul Beauregard (a.k.a. DJ Paul) and Cedric Coleman (a.k.a. Frayser Boy) hold their Oscars for Best Original Song during the 78th Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in L.A. on March 5, 2006Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage — From left: Jordan Houston (a.k.a. Juicy J), Paul Beauregard (a.k.a. DJ Paul) and Cedric Coleman (a.k.a. Frayser Boy) hold their Oscars for Best Original Song during the 78th Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in L.A. on March 5, 2006
Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage

Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J and DJ Paul, along with fellow Tennessee-based rapper Frayser Boy, won Best Original Song in 2006 for "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from 2005's Hustle & Flow. The win marked the second time a rap song won the coveted award (after Eminem); even better, the trio made history by delivering the first-ever live performance of a hip-hop song at the ceremony.

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Jared Leto

Thirty Seconds to Mars musician Jared Leto's portrayal of Rayon in 2013's Dallas Buyers Club earned him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2014.

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Jennifer Hudson

American Idol alum Hudson won Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for portraying Effie White in the 2006 musical film Dreamgirls. Hudson went on to achieve the coveted EGOT status in 2022.

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Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me" from the 1985 musical drama White Nights earned him the Best Original Song Oscar in 1986.

That same year, Richie was also nominated in the same category for his song "Miss Celie's Blues" from 1985's The Color Purple, along with Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton.

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Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge won Best Original Song in 2007 for "I Need to Wake Up" from the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

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Phil Collins

For Phil Collins, the third time was the charm: After two previous nominations, the musician won Best Original Song in 2000 for "You'll Be in My Heart" from Disney's 1999 animated film Tarzan.

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Sam Smith

Sam Smith collected the Best Original Song trophy in 2016 for "Writing's on the Wall," a song they co-wrote for the 2015 Bond film Spectre.

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Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from 1984's The Woman in Red scored Best Original Song in 1985.

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Carly Simon

Carly Simon's Working Girl track "Let the River Run" earned her the Best Original Song Oscar in 1989.

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Bruce Springsteen

In 1994, Bruce Springsteen won Best Original Song for "Streets of Philadelphia" from the Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington legal drama Philadelphia.

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Randy Newman

Singer-songwriter Randy Newman's Academy Award win in 2002 for "If I Didn't Have You" from 2001's Monsters, Inc. was a cause for celebration — it came after Newman had already amassed 15 previous nominations without a single win.

Luckily for Newman, he didn't have to wait quite as long for his second win. He won his second Oscar in 2011 for Best Original Song for "We Belong Together" from 2010's Toy Story 3.

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Prince

In 1985, Prince won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score — a rare category offered on limited occasions when there are enough qualifying musicals — for his iconic 1984 film Purple Rain.

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H.E.R.

H.E.R. poses with the Oscar for Best Original Song during the 93rd Academy Awards at Union Station in L.A. on April 25, 2021Credit: Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty — H.E.R. poses with the Oscar for Best Original Song during the 93rd Academy Awards at Union Station in L.A. on April 25, 2021
Credit: Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty

H.E.R. won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2021 for her song "Fight for You" from Judas and the Black Messiah. She composed the song with producer Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II and wrote it with singer-songwriter Tiara Thomas.

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Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

From left: Jon Batiste, along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails, hold their Oscar for Best Original Score during the 93rd Academy Awards at Union Station on April 25, 2021Credit: Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty — From left: Jon Batiste, along with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails, hold their Oscar for Best Original Score during the 93rd Academy Awards at Union Station on April 25, 2021
Credit: Chris Pizzello-Pool/Getty

Jon Batiste won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2021 for the Pixar film Soul alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails.

While it was Batiste's first Oscar nomination, Reznor and Ross were actually competing against themselves in the category that year because they were also nominated for Best Original Score for 2020's Mank.

A decade prior, the rock duo took Best Original Score in 2011 for The Social Network.

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Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell

When Billie Eilish and her brother (and frequent collaborator) Finneas O'Connell won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2022 for "No Time to Die" from the eponymous 2021 Bond movie, the win was the third consecutive Bond theme to win in the category.

In 2024, Eilish received her second career Oscar in the same category for "What Was I Made For?" from 2023's Barbie, which she also created with O'Connell.

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Questlove

Though Questlove is best known for his work in music and as the drummer in the Philadelphia rap group The Roots, he won an Oscar in 2022 for Best Documentary Feature for his directorial debut, Summer of Soul. The film explores the Harlem Cultural Festival during the summer of 1969.

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The Beatles

Although bandmates Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison won their first Oscar statuette together for Best Original Song Score in 1971 for their documentary film Let It Be, McCartney is the only Beatles member to be nominated solo, having received two nominations for Best Original Song during his career.

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Annie Lennox

Scottish singer-songwriter Annie Lennox became a first-time Oscar winner in 2004 when she claimed Best Original Song for "Into the West," the closing-credits song she performed for 2003's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

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Frank Sinatra

When he wasn't making listeners swoon over the radio, Frank Sinatra was charming the Academy on the silver screen. His Oscar-winning turn in 1953's From Here to Eternity snagged him the Best Supporting Actor trophy in 1954.

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Irene Cara

In 1984, Irene Cara took home the Oscar for Best Original Song for "Flashdance… What a Feeling" from 1983's Flashdance. Cara co-wrote and performed the song, which also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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