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H.E.R. adds Oscar nomination to big Grammy night

H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas accept the Song of the Year award for 'I Can't Breathe' onstage during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas accept the Song of the Year award for 'I Can't Breathe' onstage during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

by Jay Gabler

March 15, 2021

The nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards were announced today, giving H.E.R. an Oscar nomination the morning after she won Song of the Year at the Grammys. H.E.R.’s "Fight for You," from Judas and the Black Messiah, was among five nominees for Best Original Song.

Other nominees in that category included Celeste's "Hear My Voice" (The Trial of the Chicago 7); "Husavik," a song from the satirical Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga; Laura Pausini's "Io Sì (Seen)" from The Life Ahead; and Leslie Odom Jr.’s "Speak Now," from One Night in Miami.

In a movie year unlike any other, the Academy recognized a sincere, urgent, often historically-oriented slate of films, including many produced by the streaming services that increasingly hold the levers of Hollywood power. Best Picture nominees included Judas and the Black Messiah, The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Father, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, and Sound of Metal.

In the acting categories, music fans may be pleased to see that Andra Day landed a Best Actress nomination for portraying the title character in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. "Day utterly inhabits the role," wrote The Current's Luke Taylor, "capturing all of Holiday's talent — including her singing voice — while conveying the inexorable pain that lingered just beneath the surface, the result of the trauma that persisted in Holiday's life from childhood."

Trent Reznor, once best known for leading Nine Inch Nails, continued his transition into one of Hollywood's leading film composers along with his writing partner Atticus Ross. The duo were nominated for Mank, the Citizen Kane behind-the-scenes movie directed by longtime Reznor collaborator David Fincher; as well as for Soul, the Pixar movie released direct to Disney+. Other Best Original Score nominees included Terence Blanchard (Da 5 Bloods), Emile Mosseri (Minari), and the stalwart James Newton Howard (News of the World).

Other newsworthy nominations included the Best Director category, in which for the first time ever, multiple women are in the running. Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) were nominated alongside Fincher (Mank), Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), and Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round). Mank leads the field overall, with ten nominations in total.

For a complete list of nominees, see Oscars.org. The 93rd Academy Awards will be presented in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 25.